KKR vs CSK: Defiant Kolkata Knight Riders powered a crucial and magnificent victory over Chennai Super Kings by six wickets this evening in Chennai. With this victory, Kolkata Knight Riders climbed to the seventh position in the standings but merely kept their qualification hopes alive. Chennai continues to hold the second position.
Winning the toss at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S Dhoni made an unfortunate decision to bat first. Batting first, Chennai Super Kings looked uncomfortable throughout their innings and could only post a sluggish 144/6 runs total in their first innings of 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings was off to a decent start as opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad (17) and Devon Conway (30) added 31 runs for the first wicket. Rahane (16) then arrived at the crease and stitched another 30-run partnership alongside Conway.
Chennai kept losing wickets at regular intervals until Shivam Dube (48) and Ravindra Jadeja (20) came to the rescue and built a solid 68-run stand for the sixth wicket. Backed on their resilience, Chennai managed to edge past the 140-run mark. For Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunil Narine (2/15) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/36) starred in the bowling attack with a sizzling performance whereas Varun Arora and Shardul Thakur chipped in a wicket apiece. Chasing a modest target of 145 runs, Kolkata Knight Riders seemed quite comfortable. Though the Knight Riders were off to a disappointing start, skipper Rana and ace batsman Rinku Singh managed the situation extremely well.
Rana-Rinku’s 99-run stand guided KKR over the line in 19 overs
Kolkata lost quick wickets at the start in the form of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1), Jason Roy (12), and Venkatesh Iyer (9). However, Rana (57)* and Rinku (54) then came to the rescue and anchored a flamboyant match-winning partnership of 99 runs for the fourth wicket as Kolkata hunted the target in only 18.3 overs. For Chennai Super Kings, Deepak Chahar (3/27) was the pioneer of the bowling attack as he raised the hopes of a Yellow Army victory in power play but his efforts went in vain as Kolkata clinched an easy victory.
KKR vs CSK Brief Scores
KKR 147/4 (Rana 57*, Rinku 54, Chahar 3-27) beat CSK 144/6 (Dube 48*, Conway 30, Narine 2-15) by six wickets
Also read, LSG Vs SRH: Lucknow Registers 7-Wickets Win Over Hyderabad
