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Chennai Super Kings may be the oldest team in the IPL , but it has shown time and again that experience does matter a lot. The men in yellow came out with another emphatic performance as they outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders by five wicket at Eden Gardens. Handing KKR their third straight loss.
CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and pot KKR in. The CSK spin attack was just too good for the home side. Mitchell Santner started the slide getting Sunil Narine early ( 2). And KKR never recovered. Nitish Rana ( 21) , Robin Uthappa ( 0) , Andre Russell first failure ( 10 ) , Skipper Dinesh Karthik, poor run continued ( 18), Shubman Gill ( 15 ). KKR’s only solace was Chris Lynn who scored a blazing 82 off 51 balls studded with 7 fours and 6 sixes. The target though was much below par 161 / 8 in 20 overs .
For CSK the star performer was the wily 40 – year old Imran Tahir. Tahir was brilliant with a spell of 4/ 27 ( 4 overs). He was supported ably Mitchell Santner 1/ 30 ( 4 overs) , Shardul Thakur 2/ 18 . CSK were sharp on the field with faf Du Plessis taking as many as four brilliant catches.
In reply CSK Lost Shane Watson early for ( 6) , Faf Du Plessis scored a quick 24. Ambati Rayudu fell for 5 , Kedar Jadhav 20, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for 16. But experienced Suresh Raina anchored the innings superbly and was there till the end with Ravindra Jadeja , who played a unbeaten cameo in the end to see the CSK home by 5 wickets. Raina scored an unbeaten 58 off 42 balls with seven fours and a six. Jadeja hitting 31 off 17 balls .
Needing 24 runs off the last two overs, Jadeja smashed Harry Gurney for three successive fours to make it just a formality in the last over. CSK reached 162/ 5 in 19. 4 overs.
For KKR the bowling figures were , Sunil Narine 2/ 19 ( 4 overs), Piyush Chawla 2/ 32 ( 3. 4 overs), Harry Gurney 1/ 37 ( 4 overs)
