Chennai Super Kings (CSK) outmuscled Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to register their third consecutive victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The victory helped CSK climb to the top of the points table.
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited CSK to bat first. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis got them off to a rollicking start, adding 115 runs for the first wicket. Gaikwad scored 62 off just 45 deliveries, while du Plessis batted through the innings for an unbeaten 60-ball 95.
In reply, KKR got off to a shambolic start, losing five batters for a mere 31. Deepak Chahar ran through their top order, picking up four wickets inside the Powerplay. Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins did all in their might to guide KKR across the finishing line, but in vain. In the end, KKR was bundled out for 202 in 19.1 overs.
Ruturaj breaks his bad spell
Gaikwad came to this contest on the back of 20 runs in three innings. With the veteran Robin Uthappa warming the bench, he was running out of time. Despite the backing of coach Stephen Fleming, a low score today might have put his place in jeopardy. He showed his intention early in the innings with an emphatic pull off Cummins in the second over.
After playing second fiddle to du Plessis at the start, Ruturaj took the centrestage after the Powerplay. Russell, who usually bowls in death overs, was brought into the attack in the eighth over. Ruturaj welcomed him with a six over the deep mid-wicket and finished the over with a four. He brought his fifty in 33 balls. He hit six fours and four sixes before getting out to Varun Chakravarthy.
Moeen joins Faf to keep the attack going
Du Plessis reached to his half-century with an authoritative cut off Varun in the 13th over. Earlier in the innings, he had picked up a six and a four in Varun’s second over, inside the Powerplay.
Moeen Ali did not take time to get into the groove. He found a boundary with an exquisite drive towards the cover on the third ball he faced. Cummins, meanwhile, did not look in control, and conceded 14 runs from his third over. When Prasidh Krishna came on to bowl the 16th over, Moeen greeted him with a six over long-off.
Moeen then went after Sunil Narine and muscled a four and a six to start to the 17th over. To the next ball, he danced down the track but could not reach the ball. Karthik calmly dislodged the bails.
Faf, Dhoni finish off with a bang
MS Dhoni promoted himself, walking out when Moeen was dismissed. His first boundary came on a free hit. Prasidh gave away just three runs from the first four balls in the 18th over, but his next two went for 11. A top edge from Dhoni flew over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary before he despatched the next ball into the stand.
Du Plessis then smacked Russell for three fours in a row in the 19th over. He went berserk in the last over, bowled by Cummins, hitting two sixes in four balls. Ravindra Jadeja, too, launched one off the last ball to take CSK to a mammoth total of 220/3.
Deepak Chahar swings it away from KKR
Deepak Chahar (4-0-29-4), once again, struck in his first over. Shubman Gill threw his bat hard at a length ball outside off but holed out an easy catch to Lungi Ngidi. It was the first ball he faced.
Chahar claimed the second wicket in his next over. Nitish Rana, going for a flick over square-leg, closed the face of his bat a tad too early. Dhoni made a call and grabbed it with both hands.
Eoin Morgan, too, edged one to Dhoni off Chahar. A ball later, Chahar got his fourth victim when Jadeja grabbed a stunning catch to send Narine back to the dugout.
Russell, Karthik bring KKR back into the game
Even as the top order collapsed like a deck of cards, the KKR batters kept attacking, something that they had done against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match. Andre Russell (54 off 22) amassed 14 runs from the first four balls he faced, in the last over of the Powerplay.
This was just the beginning of a carnage, featuring Russell and Karthik. Russell picked up three sixes and a four off the first over from Shardul Thakur. He brought up his half-century in 21 balls. Soon after, Russell unnecessarily shuffled across and missed a ball that kissed the top of the leg stump. Karthik (40 off 24), meanwhile, kept playing his shots and finished the over with a six and a four.
Pat Cummins explodes!
Cummins (66 off 34) was tentative in the beginning before he broke the shackles with two consecutive fours off Shardul in the 14th over. An over later, demonic spirits seemed to enter Cummins as he desecrated Sam Curran with his imperious ball-hitting ability. He completed a hat-trick of sixes and followed it with a four and another six. Curran conceded 30 in that over.
The Knight Riders needed 45 runs from the last four overs. Cummins completed his half-century in the 18th over which brought 12 runs to the Kolkata.
With 28 needed in the last two overs, Cummins whipped away another six. But Varun got run out next ball at the non-striker’s end. They could only manage a single in the next three balls and needed 20 from the last over, but they had lost nine wickets by then.
No. 11 Prasidh Krishna fell miles short of the crease while running back for a second run. He saw the stumps getting dislodged by Shardul.
Brief Score:
Chennai Super Kings 220/3 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 95*, Ruturaj Gaikwad 64; Varun Chakravarthy 1-27, Andre Russell 1-27) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 202 in 19.1 overs (Pat Cummins 66*, Andre Russell 54; Deepak Chahar 4-29, Lungi Ngidi 3-28) by 18 runs. Player of the Match: Faf du Plessis.