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In one of the contests of the season, CSK overcame the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders off the last ball of the game. Ravindra Jadeja’s fireworks negated Kolkata’s perseverance right in the end, as Chennai nearly confirmed their berth in the playoffs.
KKR won the toss earlier in the afternoon and decided to bat first. The track was as good as it could have been in the middle-east for batting, and despite getting 10 runs off the first over, Shubman Gill’s attempt for a quick single saw him capitulate.
KKR’s star of the UAE leg, Venkatesh Iyer, once again chipped in with some delightful shots alongside Rahul Tripathi as the duo drove them to the 50-mark inside the powerplay. Tripathi had a momentary scare when his attempt to guide Sam Curran’s bouncer found an edge to, and Dhoni had pulled off a great catch, but the bouncer was deemed no-ball as it was going over the batter’s head.
The second wicket came soon after, though off Shardul Thakur’s first delivery in the 6th over. Iyer edged it to Dhoni, and CDK finished the powerplay with a wicket maiden as Eoin Morgan promoted himself to the number four slot.
Morgan has been advocating high-tempo attacking cricket for a while now, but he did no favours to his past words with this knock. His troubled little stay lasted 14 deliveries, where he scored just eight runs before a brilliant catch on the boundary from Faf du Plessis sent the skipper back.
Tripathi kept going despite wickets falling at the other end, but he too succumbed soon after, just short of a well-deserved half-century. Nitish Rana and Andre Russell collected some crucial runs in the third quarter of the innings, that set the tone for the West Indian to provide a titanic finish.
Rana and Russell added 36 crucial runs in 26 balls, before Shardul Thakur was brought back into the attack and the in-form Indian cleaned up Russell’s timber. A little trouble and tension loomed around the Kolkata camp at this point, but former captain Dinesh Karthik negated it with some terrific cricket in the death.
The grandstand finish started with Rana scoring two boundaries off Chahar’s 18th over, before Karthik exploded against Sam Curran and accumulated 19 runs in the penultimate over. Karthik picked up another boundary in the final over before getting dismissed, but his 11-ball 26 did a fine job for the side.
Nitish Rana finished the innings with a boundary down the ground, taking KKR past 170. He remained unbeaten on 37 off just 27 balls, as Kolkata scored 171 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Shardul Thakur and Jadeja were the pick among CSK bowlers, who registered figures of 2/20 and 1/21 in their 4 overs.
Ruturaj and Faf du Plessis provide a sparkling start for CSK
Not for the first time, Gaikwad and du Plessis provided a sensational start for their side. Both batters displayed their spectacular range of shots, stroking boundaries with nicely timed shots and found gaps at will.
The duo added 74 runs for the opening wicket before Andre Russell foxed Ruturaj. Runs continued to come thick and fast despite the wicket, as Ali picked up things immediately. A stunning pull off Lockie Ferguson for six got him going, whilst Faf continued what he was already doing.
Faf du Plessis’s wicket in the 12th over started to unravel a KKR comeback. Ambati Rayudu’s trouble stay in the middle added a little pressure in the batting camp, coupled by some strict bowling from KKR.
A few brilliant overs from 13-17 got KKR right back in the thick of things. Rayudu succumbed to Sunil Narine whilst Ferguson dismissed Ali.
Chakravarthy followed it with the wicket of MS Dhoni and gave just 5 runs in the 18th over as CSK were left with 27 runs to win in the final 2 overs.
Just when we thought the game was in Kolkata’s favour, Jadeja smashed two sixes and two fours off Prasidh Krishna’s penultimate over, leaving just four runs to get in Sunil Narine’s final over.
The West Indian spinner managed to take the game to the final ball by dismissing Jadeja, but Deepak Chahar managed to get off the last ball with just one run to get off the last ball 30-yard circle, and Chennai emerged victorious.
Brief Scores
Kolkata Knight Riders: 171/6 in 20 overs (Tripathi 45, Rana 37*, Dinesh Karthik 26*; Shardul Thakur 2/20) lost to Chennai Super Kings: 172/8 in 20 overs (du Plessis 43, Gaikwad 40, Jadeja 22; Narine 3/41)
