Kolkata, April 14: Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings continued their winning run and showed their composure in run chase as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 wickets at Eden Gardens on Sunday (April 14) in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019.
With this win, the MS Dhoni-led CSK took another positive step towards playoffs. They have also registered their first win at Eden Gardens after 2013.
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Chasing a target of 162 in 20 overs, CSK lost their openers Shane Watson (6) and Faf du Plessis (24) in powerplays. On a track assisting spinners, Kolkata tweakers Sunil Narine (4-1-19-2) and Piyush Chawla (2-32) gave the visitors big blows in the middle overs to keep things tight for them.
Watson's poor form with the bat continued as he was trapped in front by Harry Gurney in the fourth over itself. Narine then cleaned up Du Plessis in his very first over as the Protea looked to sweep the mystery spinner.
Chawla then dismissed Ambati Rayudu (5) cheaply and ended the cameo of Kedar Jadhav (20) to an end. Chennai found themselves in deep trouble as their four batsmen were back in the dugout under hundred.
MS Dhoni (16) and his deputy Suresh Raina (58*) revived the CSK innings in the run chase and stitched a partnership of 40 runs between them. Raina - who was looking out of form in the tournament - announced his return to form with a brilliant half-century.
For a while now Jadeja the batsman in white ball cricket hasn’t been a force, hopefully today’s innings gives him the necessary confidence to become one.👍#CSKvKKR
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 14, 2019
With 42 needed from the 30 balls, Narine gave CSK their biggest jolt as he trapped their skipper in front. But Ravindra Jadeja - who remained unbeaten in the previous game - had other ideas. His cameo of 17-ball 31 saw his team through.
With 24 needed from last 12 balls, Jadeja attacked Harry Gurney in the 19th over and smashed four boundaries to accumulate 15 runs. With 8 needed from 6 deliveries, it was merely a formality for Jadeja and Raina.
For his stupendous bowling figures of 4/27, Imran Tahir is adjudged the Man of the Match at Eden Gardens 🤝🤝 pic.twitter.com/mkPeFQUq7a
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 14, 2019
Earlier, veteran spinner Imran Tahir's 4-27 rattled KKR batsmen in his web. He accounted for the big wickets of Chris Lynn (82), Andre Russell (10), Robin Uthappa (0), Nitish Rana (21). The veteran tweaker first grabbed the wickets of Rana and Uthappa in an over and later got the dangermen Lynn and Russell in another over.
Mitchell Santner (1-30) and Shardul Thakur (2-18) were the other wicket-takers for Chennai as Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja were attacked by Lynn. Santner got the visitors their first breakthrough after he got rid of opener Narine (2) in the powerplay.
Most wkts in #IPL career after the age of 35
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 14, 2019
66 - Imran Tahir
63 - M Muralidharan
57 - Shane Warne
46 - Ashish Nehra
45 - Anil Kumble#IPL2019#KKRvCSK https://t.co/JrZhI9Inb7
Lynn was looking in ominous touch with the bat as he went after in-form Chahar and economical Jadeja. After losing Lynn and Russell in an over, KKR were knocked off course as they could only amass 28 runs from the last 5 overs.
Chennai's fielding was top-notch today. Faf du Plessis took some exceptional catches in the outfield. Shardul Thakur and substitute Dhruv Shorey took fine catches and complemented their bowlers well.
Here's how the match between KKR and CSK panned out:
It's all over!! Chennai Super Kings have chased down 162 and defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Another calculated run chase by CSK but it was the finishing touch of Ravindra Jadeja that saw them through.
Fine, methodical chase by CSK, handing out lesson to KKR’s batsmen who were given to needless, reckless excess and finished about 20 runs short. In the end, that proved decisive
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 14, 2019
CSK need 2 from 3 balls.
Four!! Ravindra Jadeja gets a boundary on the first ball bowled by Chawla. 4 needed from 5 deliveries.
1,4,4,4,2,1! 15 runs came from that over bowled by Gurney. CSK - 154/5 after 19 overs. CSK need 8 from 6 deliveries. Another tight finish for them
Four, Four, Four! A hat-trick of boundaries from Ravindra Jadeja off Gurney CSK need 11 from 8 balls.
Four! Ravindra Jadeja hits Gurney down the ground. 19 needed from 10 balls.
8 runs came from that over bowled by Sunil Narine. CSK - 138/5 after 18 overs. They need 24 from 12 balls. This match is headed for a thriller but the KKR spinners have pulled things back for their team by picking up wickets at regular intervals. It's not going to be easy for Chennai.
9 came from that over bowled by Prasidh. CSK - 130/5 after 17 overs. Narine will bowl the 18th over. CSK need 32 from 18 balls.
Four! Ravindra Jadeja hits Prasidh Krishna towards long-off for a boundary.
Fifty! Suresh Raina brings up his half-century off 36 deliveries. But the vice-captain has a lot to do if CSK look to win this game.
0,1,W,0,0,0! Superb over from Narine. He's just turned the game in his team's favour. CSK - 121/5 in 16 overs. They need 41 off 24 balls to win this one.
Wicket! MS Dhoni (16) has been trapped in front by Sunil Narine. Dhoni was almost confirmed that he was out but Raina convinced him to take a tactical review but in vain. CSK lost their skipper and they look in deep trouble now.
11 runs came from Harry Gurney's over. CSK - 120/4 after 15 overs. 42 needed from 30 balls. MS Dhoni has encountered some trouble in his lower back. Physio is into the middle to attend him.
Four! Suresh Raina gets a boundary down the leg side off Gurney. It was a brilliant leg glance from the southpaw.
13 runs came from that over bowled by Piyush Chawla. It was the first over when CSK batters went after Chawla and got 10-plus runs. CSK - 109/4 after 14 overs. 53 runs needed from 36 deliveries.
Four! 100 comes up for CSK with a boundary from Suresh Raina. He guides the ball from Chawla for a boundary as he played it late.
1,2,6,2,1,1! 13 runs came from Kuldeep Yadav's over. CSK - 96/4 after 13 overs. They need 66 from 42 deliveries.
SIX! MS Dhoni walks down the ground and hammers Kuldeep Yadav over long-on for a maximum. The chinaman wasn't anticipating that shot from Dhoni.
Superb second over of the innings from Piyush Chawla. He conceded just two from it and got the wicket of dangerous looking Kedar Jadhav. Excellent stuff from the leg-spinner. CSK - 83/4 in 12 overs. They need 79 from 48 deliveries.
Crafty bowling by Chawla. The googly may be predictable, but he has varied pace and angles beautifully
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 14, 2019
The spinners are definitely getting a lot of assistance from the pitch and the run chase isn't going to be an easy one for Chennai.
Wicket! Kedar Jadhav's cameo of 11-ball 20 comes to an end as Piyush Chawla once again gives Chennai a big jolt. CSK - 81/4 after 11.1 overs.
Four! Kedar Jadhav uses the depth of the crease and gets a boundary towards mid-wicket and long-off. He's only dealing in boundaries. CSK - 81/3 after 11 overs.
SIX!! Kedar Jadhav pulls Kuldeep Yadav over mid-wicket for a maximum. He's been busy from the moment he stepped into the middle.
10 overs have been bowled and Chennai reach 70/3 as they chase 162. Kolkata spinners have been bowling well and keeping things tight for the visitors. It isn't going to be an easy run chase.
Wicket! Ambati Rayudu (5) gives a simple catch to Robin Uthappa at short-cover. Piyush Chawla strikes on the very first ball of his innings. CSK - 61/3 in 9.1 overs. They are in some trouble now
1,1,0,0,1,1! Just 4 runs came from the first over bowled by Kuldeep Yadav. CSK - 61/2 after 9 overs. They need 101 runs from 66 deliveries.
Four! Suresh Raina gets a boundary off Sunil Narine. It was bowled towards his leg the southpaw got his third boundary in that region, just deflected the ball towards fine leg boundary. CSK - 57/2 after 8 overs. The flow of runs has slowed down after the wicket of du Plessis.
Just three runs came from that over bowled by Prasidh Krishna. CSK - 47/2 after 7 overs. The bowlers have kept things tight for the visitors in the run chase.
0,0,W,0,0,0! Wicket-maiden over from Sunil Narine. What a start this has been from the spinner? CSK - 44/2 after 6 overs.
Wicket! Faf du Plessis (24) is clean bowled by Sunil Narine. The batsman was looking to play a big stroke against the mystery spinner missed it completely while attempting a sweep shot and paid the price. #CSK - 44/2 after 5.3 overs.
The sweep is a risky shot for du Plessis. In his #IPL career, he's played it 30 times, scoring 46 runs but being dismissed on five occasions.
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 14, 2019