Chennai: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) scored a 76-ball 99-run partnership between captain Nitish Rana (not out) and Rinku Singh (54) after a brilliant performance by the bowlers led by Sunil Narine (two wickets for 15 runs). Chennai Super Kings were defeated by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 match here on Sunday. KKR achieved the target of four wickets in 18.3 overs after restricting Chennai to 144 for six.
This is KKR’s sixth win in 13 matches and the team remains in the race for the playoffs with 12 points. Chennai had a chance to win this match and secure a place in the playoffs but now they will have to wait. Defending the target, Chennai got off to a good start by picking up three wickets in the powerplay but Rinku and Nitish sealed a record fourth-wicket partnership against Chennai at this ground to ensure the team’s victory.
Mathish Pathirana gave life to Nitish in the 11th over by dropping a catch off Moin Ali. At that time he was batting on 18 runs. He hit six fours and a six in his 44-ball unbeaten innings. Man of the match Rinku hit four fours and three sixes in his 43-ball innings. Deepak Chahar took three wickets for 27 runs in three overs for Chennai. During this, he became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in the powerplay of IPL.
Earlier, apart from Narayan, Chakraborty got two successes but he spent 36 runs in four overs. Shardul Thakur (15 runs in three overs) and Vaibhav Arora (30 runs in four overs) got one success each. Shivam Dubey scored an unbeaten 48 off 34 balls with the help of one four and three sixes to take Chennai to a competitive score.
Chennai had lost five wickets for 72 runs in the 11th over but Dubey pulled the team out of trouble with a 53-ball 68-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (24 runs in 20 balls). For the team, Devon Conway scored 30 runs in 28 balls with the help of three fours. He shared a 30-run partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad for the first wicket and a 30-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane for the second wicket.
Defending the target, Chahar got Chennai off to a good start by dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz (one run) in the opening over. He showed the way to the pavilion after taking two fours from Venkatesh Iyer in the third over.
Nitish Rana hit a six against this bowler but Jason Roy (12 runs) became Chahar’s third victim. Rinku Singh hit the last ball of the sixth over for a six, which made the team score 46 for three in the power play. Rana and Rinku then batted carefully in the next two overs. Rinku, however, eased the pressure in the ninth over by hitting two fours against Moeen Ali. He hit a six against Jadeja in the 12th over.
From the other end, Captain Rana hit two consecutive fours against Moeen. Rinku hit a six in the 14th over to complete the team’s century. Rana sealed KKR’s grip on the match in the next over by hitting Teekshana for fours in consecutive deliveries. Rinku completed his half-century by hitting a four in the 16th over, while in the next over, Rana completed his fifty by taking a single against Teekshana.
Rinku was run out in the 18th over and in the 19th over, Rana gave the team victory by hitting a four. Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, Gaikwad, and Conway once again got Chennai off to a smooth start by hitting three fours in the first three overs. In the fourth over, Chakraborty trapped Gaikwad in his spin and broke his partnership with Conway. Rahane, who came to the crease, hit a six and a four against Harshit. He, however, became Chakraborty’s second victim in the eighth over when he tried to hit another big hit, hitting the ball in the hands of Jason Roy at long-off.
In the 10th over of the innings, Rinku Singh took a good catch of Conway on the ball of Shardul Thakur. In the next over, Sunil Narine bowled Ambati Rayudu (four runs) and Moeen Ali (one run) as Chennai was reduced from 61 for one to 72 for five. While Rayudu failed once again, Narayan appeared in rhythm for the first time. Shivam Dubey eased the pressure a bit in the 12th over with a six against Suyash Sharma, who came in to bowl, but the KKR spinners bowled tight after that.
Dubey welcomed Shardul with a four in the 16th over, and in the next over, Chennai’s century was completed with one run. In the same over, Ravindra Jadeja and then Dubey hit one six each. Dube completed a 40-ball half-century partnership with Jadeja by hitting a six against Chakraborty. However, the Chennai batsmen could not hit a single boundary in the last 15 balls after this. In the last over, Vaibhav Arora walked Jadeja, while Dhoni failed to take advantage of the free hit and could only score two unbeaten runs in three balls.
