Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered their third consecutive victory after defeating the spectacular Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) unit in Match 15 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Mumbai yesterday.
Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten 95 while Deepak Chahar rose 4/29 as CSK held their nerve against KKR in a run-fest.
In pursuing a mammoth target of 221, KKR did not get the desired start. They lost Shubman Gill in the first over, after the right-handed player produced a thick edge that traveled straight to the third man, giving Chahar his first wicket of the match.
Nitish Rana creamed two borders before making her way back to the pavilion. The left-hander hit the ball in the air and CSK skipper MS Dhoni collected the ball safely as Chahar picked up his second wicket.
The right-arm ruler was back to bowl the fifth over, striking twice to get KKR Eoin Morgan’s big wicket and then Sunil Narine’s wicket. While Morgan edged one to Dhoni, Narine was relegated to a stunning catch by Ravindra Jadeja in the ring.
At 31/4 after five overs and Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik in the crease, KKR batsmen had no other option but according to their natural abilities to get close to the steep target.
Russell started the feat in the sixth over, the right wing grinding two fours and sixes off Ngidi and gave a hint of what was to come next in the coming batters.
Karthik also didn’t hold back and crushed Chahar for a huge six in the eighth over and then four off Jadeja.
He then hammered 24 of 24 runs off the ninth over bowled by Shardul Thakur where the West-Indian rounder struck out three sixes and four as KKR moved to 97/5 after a 10-over end.
The Karthik-Russell duo then added 14 off the Jadeja over with Russell taking advantage of the free game with a huge six, marking his half century in style, off just 21 deliveries.
Sam Curran returned to the attack in the 12th over and put an anti-genomic ending to Russell’s show after the right-hander was bowled around his legs. Karthik, though, carried on the busyness and struck four and six in the same over and over. Pat Cummins, who had replaced Russell in the middle, was stranded and dealing in boundaries at the other end but Karthik was dismissed after he completely misjudged a slower delivery from Ngidi and was out of LBW.
However, Cummins had his plans in place and Curran scored 30 runs off the 16th over which included four sixes and four in the cleanest form of hitting the ball. Ngidi, who bowled the 17th over of the innings, scalped Kamlesh Nagarkoti’s wicket before Cummins hit his half-century off 23 balls.
With 28 required off the final two, Cummins started the match with a maximum but lost yet another partner in a double take as KKR lost their ninth wicket.
KKR needed 20 off the final. CSK, off the very first classification, completed a run at the end of the non-striker and managed to defend the total in the end.
Earlier, CSK was first put into batting and made one change to his XI – Lungi Ngidi played in place of Dwayne Bravo.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis started on a confident note smashing 15 runs off Cummins’ second over. Du Plessis started the fight with four while Ruturaj crushed four and six each.
The opening duo didn’t let the KKR spinners – Varun Chakravarthy and Narine settle in with the new ball.
The fifty partnership was underway for the opening wicket and du Plessis and Ruturaj made full use of the speed and lightning fast pitch at Wankhede as CSK were 54/0 at the end of six overs.
Ruturaj welcomed Russell to the crease with a glorious draw over the middle of a deep wicket that went for maximum and closed the over with four, played in the same fashion.
CSK was going strong at the end of the 10-over mark, scoring 82 runs without losing any wickets.
They hammered 16 runs off Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who bowled his first match of the game as Ruturaj cleared the ropes twice with his hard shot and completed an impressive 50 off just 33 deliveries.
The next game was even better for the batting team after Prasidh Krishna overcame twice and gave away 17 runs that included four and six, courtesy of Ruturaj’s brilliant strike.
Chakravarthy came on to bowl the final of his spell and get the breakthrough breakthrough that KKR was looking for. Ruturaj’s brilliant shot of 64 off 42 deliveries ended after the right-hander played straight into Cummins’ hands, who grabbed a sharp catch in the field.
Meanwhile, du Plessis wrapped up his half-century with four and Moeen Ali joined CSK in earning a grand total.
Cummins then gave away 14 runs and the pressure levels were for the KKR. Moeen and du Plessis then smacked six and four each off Prasidh Krishna’s bowling in the next match.
Moeen then took Narine for four and six off the first two deliveries before Narine got the better of the left man who was stumped on the next delivery.
CSK captain MS Dhoni promoted himself up the routine and hit two fours and sixes before du Plessis creamed three four in a row off Russell in the last but one. KKR had success in the 19th over, thanks to a stunning catch by KKR’s skipper Morgan for a Dhoni wicket.
CSK finished in prestigious fashion after du Plessis smashed two sixes as Jadeja cleared the ropes with the last ball of the innings as CSK put 220/3 on the board.
Short Scores: Chennai Super Kings beat 220/3 (Faf du Plessis 95 *, Ruturaj Gaikwad 64; Varun Chakravarthy 1/27) Kolkata Knight Riders 202 all out (Pat Cummins 66 *, Andre Russell 54; Deepak Chahar 4/29) by 18 runs.