MS Dhoni, the man of crisis, steered the innings for Chennai Super Kings against KKR to avoid a horrendous collapse and take his team to 131/5 in 20 overs.
However, the target seemed below par on the due heavy pitch at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Kolkata Knight Riders comfortably chased the score with 6 wickets to spare in 18.3 overs.
KKR has gained 2 points and risen to the top of the points table in Group A, while CSK sits at the bottom of Group B.
Here’s how the match panned out:
Shreyas Iyer, the captain for Knight Riders, won the toss and rightfully opted to bowl first on a pitch that generally helps the team batting second.
Batting first, CSK had hoped for a blitzing start from their superstar in making Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, Umesh Yadav did not let CSK openers construct a formidable stand. Yadav dismissed Gaikwad for a duck to provide an early breakthrough for Knight Riders.
After Gaikwad’s departure, Devon Conway, the debutant for CSK, was joined in the middle by Robin Uthappa. Uthappa played some glorious shots and tried to break the shackles for CSK. However, both Conway and Uthappa were removed in quick succession by KKR to take control of the match. Uthappa scored an enterprising 28 of 21 balls, including 2 fours and 2 sixes.
Rayudu and Jadeja struggled in the middle overs, and KKR kept piling on the pressure with dot balls. The miscommunication between the two led to the dismissal of Rayudu and the 4th wicket for Knight Riders.
Shivam Dube could not last for long at the crease and managed only a paltry 3 off 8 balls. Dube’s exit brought in the man of the hour, MS Dhoni, on the crease. Dhoni has left the captaincy of CSK, looked free from any pressure and reminded the fans of vintage Dhoni.
In the highly pressured match situation, Dhoni kept his nerves and started slowly to build a partnership with Jadeja. The duo somehow managed to keep the ruthless KKR bowlers at bay to create the fireworks in the last three overs of the innings.
Dhoni smashed Rusell and Mavi all around the park while Jadeja struggled on the other end. He remained not out on 50* with 7 fours and a massive six of the no-ball. CSK finished on 131/5 to set a target of 132 runs for KKR.
Chasing 132, Rahane and Iyer showed emergency in the first 6 overs and notched more than 40 runs to tighten the grasp of KKR on the match. Rahane scored a brilliant 44 off 34, comprising 6 fours and a six.
For CSK, Bravo was the pick of the bowlers; he dismissed 3 KKR batters. However, Nitish Rana, Sam Billings and Shreyas Iyer’s score above 20 runs guaranteed that KKR ends up winning in their first match.
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