Chennai had a tailor-made start to the match. Kolkata opener Phil Salt was out on a golden duck, and KKR were 0/1 in the first ball of the innings. However, they recovered well. Sunil Narine continued his good form and Angkrish Raghuvanshi showed promise. They had a 56-run partnership by the end of the first Power Play.

Then came Ravindra Jadeja. He dismissed Raghuvanshi in the first delivery. In the same over, Narine was out while trying to hit it big. New batter Venkatesh Iyer could not read Maheesh Theekshana at all. He played and missed almost the entire over.

While he managed to get to the other end, he faced Jadeja in the next over. Jadeja claimed his 3rd wicket of the match as Iyer was out for 3 off 8 balls. KKR were 64/4 in 8.2 overs. Ramandeep Singh came and tried to hit everything out of the park. But, he did not last long.

All of a sudden boundaries dried up. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh tried to build up a partnership, but the KKR batters clearly struggled to connect the ball.

In the 17th over of the IPL match, when Rinku played on, it was Andre Russell’s turn to face the CSK bowlers who were bowling brilliantly. Even Russell struggled with his timing as Chennai bowlers mixed up the pace and halted Kolkata from scoring. 

Russell had an unusually-low strike rate of 100 when he got out for 10. Shreyas was out soon for 34 off 32 balls. KKR’s innings ended at 137/9 in 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman claimed 2 wickets to regain the Purple Cap.

Unlike KKR batters, CSK players scored with high strike rates. Rachin Ravindra got out after scoring 15 off 8 balls. CSK lost their first wicket in the 4th over as Vaibhav Arora claimed his first wicket for Kolkata.

CSK did not score fast, but the batters paced their innings well. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad had his first success with the bat this season. After having a 70-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell (25 off 19 balls), he remained unbeaten to see CSK through. He scored 67 off 58 balls. Narine castled Mitchell and Shivam Dube (28 off 18 balls) was dismissed by Arora. KKR never looked to be in charge.

This time, MS Dhoni surprised fans by coming in to bat at number 5. His presence, even though for 3 balls, cheered the Chepauk Stadium up further. CSK won by 7 wickets.

Player of the Match

KKR never recovered after that vicious spell by Ravindra Jadeja. His 18/3 in 4 overs earned him the Player of the Match award. Chennai maintained an excellent record at home. CSK spinners shone for the first time in the tournament.

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Published: 09 Apr 2024, 06:51 AM IST