IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK): Ajinkya Rahane's 71, Shivam Dube's 50 and Jason Roy's 61 are top performances. CSK beat KKR and move to first position in points table.
Brief Scores: CSK 235/4 (Rahane 71*, Conway 56, Khejroliya 2/44) beat KKR 127 (Roy 61, Rinku 53*, Theekshana 2/32 by 49 runs.
Player Of The Match: Ajinkya Rahane (71 off 29)
The Chennai Super Kings who are in sensational form took on the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders who are in the middle of an inconsistent run at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. While CSK hopes to top the table with a win, KKR looks to move up the charts.
In the end, it was the Super Kings who roared in the den of Knights as CSK defeat KKR by 49 runs. KKR skipper won the toss and opted to field first. KKR made a slew of changes with Jagadeesan coming back for Litton and David Wiese making his first appearance with Mandeep missing out. CSK didn’t change the side that won against SRH a few days back.
Chennai stuns Kolkata in their own backyard with sensational victory
Batting first on what looked a belter of a surface at the Eden Gardens CSK openers took the same approach that brought them success all this while in this IPL. The pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad went on a rampage with sixes coming off both batters bat in the 4 of 6 power-play overs as they finished that period at 59/0. Rahane joined the Kiwi opener Conway (56) at the crease with the latter reaching his half-century off 34 balls, his 4th consecutive fifty of IPL 2023. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy accounted for Conway, and this is where the momentum shifted entirely in CSK’s favor. Shivam Dube fresh from a fifty against RCB joined forces with veteran Rahane.
It was the same old story with the KKR batting line-up as the top-order failed to click. In form, Venkatesh Iyer fell to Moeen for 20 after a brief stand with skipper Rana and soon, the latter succumbed to the best CSK bowler of the season Jadeja for 27 as KKR reeled at 76/4 at the halfway mark of a daunting run-chase. Jason Roy who injured himself while fielding was at his free-flowing best once he stepped out to bat. He injected some impetus by hitting 3 sixes off his first 5, but Rana perished soon. The former forged a 65-run stand with Rinku Singh for the 5th, wicket but it wasn’t enough to take KKR home. Russell failed once again, and despite Rinku playing an enterprising knock, CSK sailed past the hosts by 49 runs.
Talking Points from KKR vs CSK, Kolkata
The talking points have to be KKR’s batting order. They changed it once again and it yet again backfired. Sending Narine as an opener immediately proved to be a bad option as he was out for a duck and as usual rest couldn’t get going. Roy played a blinder at no.5 which is not his favoured position but was it an injury that prevented KKR from sending Roy at the top. Middle and lower order except Rinku Singh failed big time for the hosts.
KKR’s bowling is in shambles here at the Eden Gardens as they gave away the highest team total at this venue ever in IPL. Overall, the team needs collective improvement.
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Let us scan the key performances of the KKR vs CSK game of IPL 2023
Shivam Dube shines in CSK colors once again
CSK has a knack for unearthing match-winners out of players who don’t seem to do well playing for the other franchises. Shivam Dube is a perfect example. After playing a vital knock of 52 against RCB, Dube was at his best at Eden Gardens. He took the spinner Varun Chakravarthy who took a wicket and was bowling well, to the cleaners twice in his 1st 3 balls before getting into a carnage mode. He totally hit 5 maximums on the day and reached his half-century in 20 balls. His knock and his 32-ball 85-run stand with Rahane gave CSK a middle-over impetus and propelled the score to a dominating 235/4.
Ajinkya Rahane reigns supreme at the Eden Gardens
Ajinkya Rahane has been in superlative form since donning the yellow CSK dress in this season and continued his spectacular show at the mecca of Indian cricket. CSK were off to a good start thanks to their openers and Rahane playing at N0.3 consolidated the innings further as he didn’t allow the game to drift away at any point. He played several innovative shots during his 29-ball mayhem at Eden but what stands out was a stunning cover drive off Umesh Yadav. He smashed 5 sixes and 6 fours in his unbeaten knock of 71 and his 2nd half-century of the season came off just 24 balls. Indeed, Rahane has turned a new leaf as a T20 player.
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Jason Roy smashes joint 2nd fastest half-century of this IPL
Jason Roy who usually opens, came at no.5 after injury himself on the field while saving a boundary. Coming when his side was in a precarious 46/3, smashed Moeen Ali for 3 consecutive maximums before hammering 2 more off Jadeja. He continued to flourish as he reached his half-century in just 19 balls. Soon he was dismissed by a yorker length delivery bowled by Theekshana after a well-made 26-ball 61, though it was not a match-winning one.
What’s Next and Points table
CSK with this win, have jumped to the top spot with 5 victories after 7 outings while KKR are at the 8th. The Knight Riders next play RCB away on the 26th while Super Kings travel to Jaipur on the 27th.
IPL 2023 Points Table
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