Picture : IPL / X
Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings came out with clinical display to rout Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets in a Tata IPL 2024 encounter in Chennai.
CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss in front of a boisterous home crowd in Chennai and asked KKR to bat first . And Ruturaj Gaikwad was happy that his bowlers did not let him down as they kept the KKR batting in check with their tight line and length.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was spot on with his field placing and astute bowling changes . KKR innings got off to horror start with Phil Salt without disturbing the scorers. Sunil Narine tried to accelerate the scoring with 27 ( 20 balls , 3 fours , 2 sixes) but could not carry on further due to shoulder niggle. Angkrish Raghuvanshi ( 24) , Skipper Shreyas Iyer struggled and played a slow uncharacteristic knock of 33 ( 32 balls , 3 balls . CSK bowlers choked the free flowing KKR batting line- up .
Venkatesh Iyer ( 3) , Ramandeep Singh ( 13 ), Rinku Singh ( 9), and the dangerous Andre Russell ( 10) who was dropped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. A sight never has seen before . The power that KKR wanted never came . KKR eventually could manage a modest below par 137 / 9 in their 20 overs.
CSK bowling was spot on : Ravindra Jadeja 3/ 18 ( 4 overs), Tushar Deshpande 3/ 33 ( 4 overs), Mustafizur Rahman 2/ 22 ( 4 overs), Shardul Thakur 0/ 27 ( 3 overs), Maheesh Theekshana 1/ 28 ( 4 overs) Rachin Ravindra 0/ 4 ( 1 over)
Chasing 138 , Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra were steady . But after some cracking shots Rachin Ravindra fell for 15 ( 8 balls, 3 fours) with the total at 27 .
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kiwi Daryl Mitchell joined to forge a a fine match- winning partnership and put CSK on track for a comfortable clinical win . Mitchell was dismissed for 25 .
Gaikwad was solid with a fine unbeaten 67 ( 58 balls , 9 fours). Big- hitting Shivam Dube hit a quick 28 ( 18 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) and fell just three runs away from win. A big roar soon followed as MSD came out to bat and he remained not out on 1 . Gaikwad finished off the match in style with a four . CSK reaching 141/ 3 in 17. 4 overs. A thumping seven wicket win for the men in yellow .
KKR bowlers did not have much to defend. Mitchell Starc 0/ 29 ( 3 overs) , Sunil Narine 1/ 30 ( 4 overs) , Andre Russell 0/ 8 ( 1 over), Anukul Roy 0/12 ( 1 over), Varun Chakaravarthy 0/ 26 ( 4 overs) , Vaibhav Arora 2/ 28 ( 4 overs) , Anukul Roy 0/18 ( 1 .4 overs)
Match: IPL 2024, 22nd Match
Venue: Chennai | Date: April 08, 2024
