CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) kept their hopes alive of reaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs with a morale boosting six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 61st match of the tournament played at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai on Sunday.
Electing to bat first, CSK struggled for runs throughout the innings against some accurate bowling and they eventually settled for 144 for six in 20 overs, thanks to a late flurry of runs from all-rounder Shivam Dube.
However, that score turned out to be insufficient for CSK to defend as the visitors successfully chased down their target with six wickets and nine balls to spare to collect two valuable points following last week’s defeat against Rajasthan Royals.
Even then, KKR were in a spot of concern at one stage during their run chase as Deepak Chahar threatened to run through the innings while claiming three early wickets inside the Powerplay.
With his team three down for 46 after six overs, Nitish Rana, in the company of Rinku Singh, calmed frayed nerves. The presence of two left-handers at the crease meant Dhoni had to delay introducing Ravindra Jadeja into the attack.
Meanwhile, Rinku eased the pressure with two boundaries off Moeen Ali in the ninth over. And when Jadeja finally came on in the 12th over, Rinku carted him for a six.
In between, Rana got a reprieve when Matheesha Pathirana dropped him at deep backward square. He made CSK pay with two boundaries off Moeen over covers in the 13th over.
Both batsmen reached their respective fifties, and their 99-run stand ultimately ensured that KKR reached their target convincingly.
The match winning partnership was finally broken via a brilliant direct hit run out from Moeen to send back Rinku, but Rana and Russell made sure there were no more stutters as they finished on 147 for four wickets in 18.3 overs.
Earlier, CSK got off to a brisk start through their openers Raturaj Gaikwad and Devon Convey to reach 52 for one in the first six overs of the innings.
However, KKR kept things tight with some accurate bowling and that built up the pressure on the home side as they hobbled to 68 for three at the halfway stage.
Jadeja and Dube then got together to rebuild the innings as they mixed caution with aggression to post a 50-run stand in the 18th over.
Dube remained unbeaten on 48 off 34 balls and added 68 with Jadeja, but in the end, CSK were left to rue a below-par total.
Chief scores
Chennai Super Kings: 144/6 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 30, Shivam Dube 48 n.o, Ravindra Jadeja 20, Varun Chakravarthy 2/36, Sunil Narine 2/15)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 147/4 in 18.3 overs (Nitish Rana 57 n.o, Rinku Singh 54, Deepak Chahar 3/27).
