On a vintage Chepauk surface, Chennai Super Kings ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ early-season dominance. After two losses on the road, CSK arrived home to find a surface that gave them the opportunity to spin choke with Ravindra Jadeja (3 for 18 in 4 overs). Mustafizur Rahman came back to take back the purple cap on a surface where the ball just did not come onto the bat, and Tushar Deshpande was also productive. After missing out on strokeplay fluency in the first four games, Ruturaj Gaikwad eventually rediscovered it.
KKR departs early, as usual.
This season, one of the teams making the most of PowerPlay is Kolkata Knight Riders. So as Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi tossed their bats around, it didn’t matter that Tushar Deshpande had Phil Salt caught at point on the opening pitch of the game. Narine pursued Deshpande in the third over, which resulted in 19 runs, after Mustafizur Rahman’s over in the second over yielded just six runs. In the fourth over of his CSK comeback, Shardul Thakur gave away eleven runs and produced a loosener that Raghuvanshi smashed for a four. Then, against Maheeesh Theekshana, both hitters struck a six. The most costly PowerPlay that CSK has given up at home this season is 56/1, despite the fact that Mustafizur bowled nicely to Narine in the sixth over for just six runs.
Once more, Chepauk is a spinner’s ally.
In their opening two home games of the season, CSK had not taken any wickets using spin. In order to clip KKR’s wings, Ravindra Jadeja altered that in his first and second overs. Attempting to take him on immediately, Raghuvanshi attempted a reverse sweep on the opening ball but was caught leg before. Jadeja saw the back of Narine in the same over, and the left-hander went for a huge hit after seeing a full ball outside the off-stump. He ultimately ended up slicing the ball that was long since passed to Theekshana.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has the ability to instantly bowl Jadeja out in that particular game. Using a harmless half-tracker, Jadeja claimed another wicket, this time of Venkatesh Iyer, to conclude his performance at 3 for 18. 11 dots were also used in the spell.
Rachin Ravindra snuck in an over for four runs as CSK dominated the middle overs with a spin choke. Shreyas Iyer got his first four in thirty-four deliveries off Jadeja in the eleventh over. Following the PowerPlay, KKR faltered and were bowled out for 53/4 in the ensuing 10 overs.
Russell is subdued by CSK at the end
With four dots and just one four in the eighteenth over, Mustafizur emerged victorious. There was even a free hit delivered on one of the spots. Russell hit the first ball for a four after Deshpande packed the off-side boundary and bowled around the stumps at a similar angle to Mustafizur. Russell drew up to clear the long-on barrier on the next, but he was unable to clear Daryl Mitchell after Deshpande went short. For the game, this was Deshpande’s third wicket. After that, Mustafizur bowled a great last over, taking two wickets and limiting KKR to 137 for 9.
Once more, Ruturaj Gaikwad discovers his timing
The new captain of CSK ignored his lackluster season opening and discovered his timing in the PowerPlay. After driving and cutting through covers and hitting three fours off Anukul Roy, he squared away from Vaibhav Arora, who had earlier removed Rachin Ravindra from the game. In just six overs, Gaikwad’s barrage of boundaries propelled CSK to 52/1.
How was the remainder of the pursuit?
Quite simple.
Sunil Narine was removed by Daryl Mitchell in his opening over, but Varun Chakravarthy bowled three excellent overs for just 13 runs. On the adhesive surface, Andre Russell also got off to a good start, but in his first over, Ruturaj swung and pulled him for a four. After giving up 14 runs in his opening over, Narine too recovered swiftly, conceding just 10 in his next two overs and dismissing Mitchell.
Gaikwad continued to drive and recorded his best result there, 67* off 58. When Shivam Dube entered, he quickly expedited CSK’s victory by pulling Mitchell Starc for a four and then hitting Varun Chakravarthy for two sixes. The Chepauk crowd saw MS Dhoni batting at CSK’s home stadium for the first time after Dube was dismissed in the 17th over. With just three runs remaining, he reached the middle and, in the eighteenth over, he and his successor saw it through.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 141/3 in 17.4 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 67*; Vaibhav Arora 2-28) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders 137/9 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 34; Ravindra Jadeja 3-18, Tushar Deshpande 3-33, Mustafizur Rahman 2-22) by 7 wickets.
What comes next?
On Sunday, April 14, CSK will travel to Mumbai to face the team of Hardik Pandya. On the same day (April 14), KKR will play a day game against LSG after returning home.
