Kolkata Knight Riders registered a famous win at the Chidambaram Stadium. The visitors led by Ajinkya Rahane first restricted CSK to only 103 runs in the first innings and then chased down the total with eight wickets and 59 balls to spare.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 92/2 after 9 overs. Need 11 runs in 12 overs. Rahane: 19* (16), Rinku: 2* (5)
Ajinkya Rahane was given a second life in the ninth over when Vijay Shankar dropped a fairly difficult catch. Interestingly, KKR too dropped two catches in the first innings both times Shankar was the lucky batter.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 87/2 after 8 overs. Need 17 runs in 12 overs. Rahane: 16* (11), Rinku: 1* (4)
Sunil Narine attempting to bring up his fifty with a six in the eighth over was dismissed by Noor Ahmad. It was the first ball bowled by the Afghan spinner in the second innings. One would imagine that Dhoni got it wrong by introducing his most successful bowler of the season so late.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 85/1 after 7 overs. Need 19 runs in 13 overs. Narine: 44* (17), Rahane: 15* (10)
Sunil Narine has absolutely lit up the Chidambaram Stadium tonight. The three-time MVP picked up three wickets in the first innings and now is looking set to complete his half-century as well. He welcomed Ashwin into his second over with a couple of sixes.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 71/1 after 6 overs. Need 33 runs in 14 overs. Narine: 31* (13), Rahane: 14* (8)
Ajinkya Rahane has been the most consistent batter for the Knight Riders in the season. The KKR skipper has played with a great strike rate in the season. Even tonight, when KKR is chasing only 104 runs, Rahane has started his innings on a great note. He has already struck a four and a six in his knock. On the other end, Narine after getting impressing with the ball in hand has gained some rhythm with the bat in hand as well.
KKR will be looking to chase this total down quickly. If they can get this chase done within 10-11 overs they could move to rank three on the points table.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 53/1 after 5 overs. Need 51 runs in 15 overs. Narine: 21* (10), Rahane: 7* (5)
Some respite for the Chennai Super Kings and its fans as Anshul Kamboj got the first breakthrough. The right-arm pacer making his debut for the franchise clean bowled Quinton de Kock with the first ball of the fifth over.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 46/0 after 4 overs. Need 58 runs in 16 overs. De Kock: 23* (15), Narine: 21* (10)
Ravichandran Ashwin came into the attack in the fourth over. However, unlike the KKR spinners, Ashwin did not have a huge say in his first six balls. He was welcomed with a four by Sunil Narine before being hit for a six on the fourth ball of the over.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 34/0 after 3 overs. Need 70 runs in 17 overs. De Kock: 22* (14), Narine: 10* (5)
The defending champions have taken control of the chase in the first three overs as well. The biggest positive for the Ajinkya Rahane-led unit would be that the two KKR openers are still at the crease. Quinton de Kock after scoring only a single run in his first five balls has now taken off. He struck his two sixes in the third over against Khaleel Ahmed.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 19/0 after 2 overs. Need 85 runs in 18 overs. De Kock: 9* (9), Narine: 9* (4)
The visitors while chasing a small total of only 104 runs have gotten off to a flier. After Narine opened his account in the previous over with a six, Quinton de Kock too struck a maximum on the first ball of the second over.
Anshul Kamboj making his debut for Chennai Super Kings was given the responsibility to share the new ball. His start to the over was pretty poor. After being hit for a six, the right-arm pacer bowled a front-foot no-ball as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at 7/0 after 1 over. Need 97 runs in 19 overs. De Kock: 1* (5), Narine: 6* (1)
Khaleel Ahmed has been CSK’s lead pacer in the season so far. He bowled the first over leading like an example, giving away seven runs. He started the over with only one run off the first five balls, but Sunil Narine facing his first delivery of the innings struck a six over cow corner.
In the absence of Matheesha Pathirana, the left-arm pacer would have a huge role to play as the hosts attempt to defend a modest total of 104 runs.
The Kolkata Knight Riders for the first time in the season played like the defending champions that they are. The visitors rattled Chennai Super Kings at their home. MS Dhoni’s first game in charge of the Super Kings has got off to a pretty bad start. The hosts were restricted to a score of 103 runs. KKR bowled with a lot of discipline and gave away only five extras in the first innings.
Chennai Super Kings are at 79/9 after 17.2 overs. Dube: 13* (16)
Shivam Dube once again took a single on the first ball of the over. He exposed Noor Ahmad to Vaibhav Arora for the rest of the 18th over. The right-arm pacer dismissed the Afghan spinner on the first ball he bowled to him to pick up CSK’s ninth wicket.
Chennai Super Kings are at 78/8 after 17 overs. Dube: 12* (15), Noor: 1* (7)
The hosts, CSK have been rattled at their home at the hands of the KKR bowlers. With three overs remaining, the only positive for the Super Kings in the last three overs would be that Shivam Dube is still at the crease. How much can the left-handed batter score in the last 18 balls would define if CSK stand a chance in the second innings.
Chennai Super Kings are at 75/8 after 15.3 overs. Dube: 10* (13)
MS Dhoni’s fairytale return to lead Chennai Super Kings was spoiled by Sunil Narine. Narine had been quiet for the entirety of the season so far. However, he got his third wicket of the match and it was the big fish, Dhoni who had to make the long way back to the dressing room.
Chennai Super Kings are at 74/7 after 15 overs. Dube: 9* (11), Dhoni: 1* (3)
Chennai Super Kings are deeply in troubled waters. They have lost their seventh wicket for a score of only 72 runs. Deepak Hooda, who came into the game as an impact sub was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Varun Chakravarthy. However, the crowd at Chidambaram Stadium is going berserk as MS Dhoni comes to the crease. One would wonder if a true CSK fan would cheer in such a situation when their own wicket falls.
Chennai Super Kings are at 71/6 after 14 overs. Dube: 7* (9), Hooda: 0* (3)
Ravindra Jadeja departs for a silver duck as Sunil Narine has picked up his second wicket of the match. The hosts are now six wickets down at the Chidambaram Stadium. They have had to use their impact sub in the first innings itself. Deepak Hooda has replaced Rahul Tripathi. This would mean that CSK would now be without the services of Matheesha Pathirana in the second innings.
Chennai Super Kings are at 70/5 after 13 overs. Dube: 6* (7), Jadeja: 0* (1)
Harshit Rana came back into the attack and picked up his second wicket. Ashwin who had walked in to bat at number six is back to the pavilion after scoring only 1 run in seven balls. Rana’s over went for only one run and resulted in a wicket as well.
The decision to send in Ravichandran Ashwin now looks like a poor one from the CSK camp. He did not only play slow and put pressure on himself, but Shivam Dube too would be put under pressure as a result of this knock.
Chennai Super Kings are at 69/4 after 12 overs. Dube: 5* (6), Ashwin: 1* (3)
Ravichandran Ashwin has once again walked out to the crease ahead of MS Dhoni. It is the second time in this season that this has happened. Ashwin notably walked in at the fall of the sixth wicket against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Tonight, he has come to the crease at the fall of the fourth wicket ahead of the likes of MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
Moeen Ali bowled out his quota of four over giving away 20 runs and picking up a wicket as well.
Chennai Super Kings are at 65/4 after 11 overs. Dube: 3* (3)
Rahul Tripathi playing against his former franchise was playing a net-negative knock for the hosts before his dismissal. Sunil Narine dismissed the batter to put him out of his misery. The right-handed batter had played more than 22 balls but struggled to get going and had a strike rate of less than 80.
Chennai Super Kings are at 61/3 after 10 overs. Tripathi: 15* (18), Dube: 1* (1)
Vijay Shankar was the third wicket to fall for the hosts. Varun Chakravarthy got his first wicket on the fourth ball of the 10th over.
Kolkata Knight Riders in spite of their poor fielding have managed to put on a chokehold against the Chennai Super Kings batters. They are struggling to get going and barely have a run rate of six runs per over.
Chennai Super Kings are at 50/2 after 8 overs. Shankar: 23* (14), Tripathi: 11* (14)
It is Vijay Shankar’s night, as the right-handed batter has now been dropped twice. Venkatesh Iyer was the guilty fielder to have dropped yet another sitter. This could prove to be a couple of costly mistakes for the visitors.
Chennai Super Kings are at 43/2 after 7 overs. Shankar: 20* (11), Tripathi: 7* (11)
Vijay Shankar has been dropped once in the innings. He has made sure that KKR pays for their mistake. The right-handed batter has smashed a couple of fours and a six so far in his innings.
Chennai Super Kings are at 31/2 after 6 overs. Shankar: 10* (8), Tripathi: 3* (8)
Kolkata Knight Riders in spite of conceding 13 runs in the sixth over has controlled the powerplay.
Chennai Super Kings are at 18/2 after 5 overs. Shankar: 2* (5), Tripathi: 0* (5)
Harshit Rana made a straight impact on his very first ball in the match. The right-arm pacer dismissed Rachin Ravindra. He could have gotten another wicket in the over, but Sunil Narine standing at mid-off dropped a fairly easy catch.
Chennai Super Kings are at 16/1 after 4 overs. Rachin: 4* (8), Tripathi: 0* (5)
Moeen Ali after bowling a great first over was finally awarded for his consistency. The English off-spinner dismissed CSK’s top scorer from the previous game, Devon Conway on the first ball of the fourth over. He bowled five dots to bowl the first maiden over by a spinner in the season.
Chennai Super Kings are at 10/0 after 2 overs. Rachin: 3* (4), Conway: 7* (8)
Moeen Ali gets into the action only in the second over. He bowled the second over of the innings with great control and gave away only four runs in the over.
Chennai Super Kings are at 6/0 after 1 over. Rachin: 1* (1), Conway: 5* (5)
Chennai Super Kings having sent in to bat are six without the loss of any wicket. Devon Conway struck a boundary in the over to open his account.
KKR won the toss and elected to bowl first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (C and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
The biggest headline of the clash between Chennai and Kolkata is the return of MS Dhoni’s return as the captain of the hosts. With Ruturaj Gaikwad being ruled out from the remainder of the season, there will be at least one change in how the hosts line up against the defending champions. KKR’s bowling too received a bashing at the hands of the Super Giants in the previous game and might be forced to have a change in their bowling attack as well.
Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Deepak Hooda/Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (C and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
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