After losing against Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets, Kolkata Knight Riders’ winning streak came to an end. Since the visitors were never in control of the game, their awful start gradually established a template. Despite Phil Salt being out in the match’s opening delivery, Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi established a strong alliance to keep the ship afloat. But once they were out of the game, wickets began to fall like a house of cards.
They suffered greatly in the middle, and a big problem was the strike rate. Shreyas Iyer’s team scored 137 runs in the first half, but none of the batsmen managed an impressive performance. When it came to his performance with the ball, Tushar Deshpande and Ravindra Jadeja both had a great evening. Jadeja claimed three wickets. Mustafizur Rahman’s two wickets in his last over helped him seal his spot at the top of the IPL Purple Cap standings.
Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was the best when it came to chasing. The 27-year-old needed some time to become comfortable, but in the end, he scored 67 runs off of 58 deliveries. In the end, CSK won the game rather easily thanks to a cameo from Shivam Dube, who scored 28 runs off of 18 deliveries. KKR is now in second place on the points table, while CSK is now in fourth place.
Talking Points:
1. KKR did not look under the surface
It was thought going into the game that Chepauk would be a high-scoring battle. The KKR hitters, however, were unable to adapt as the surface underwent a complete alteration during the powerplay. They attempted for showpiece shots, which ultimately cost them wickets and increased their workload. The surface appeared to be more about coping with singles and doubles with sporadic boundaries, but KKR was unable to understand that.
2. Jadeja’s Office
Jadeja’s form was a little questionable at first, but he is gradually improving. In the match against KKR, the all-rounder took three wickets and made two catches to become the first player in IPL history to reach 1000 runs, take 100 wickets, and make 100 catches. Jadeja is still in the picture for the T20 World Cup, which is encouraging for the national squad.
3. Shivam Dube is still messaging selectors.
Dube performed flawlessly and contributed to CSK’s easy victory on a night when everyone will be talking about Gaikwad. He is still one of the favorites to play in the T20 World Cup, so selectors will be under pressure given his amazing form in the IPL 2024. In five games thus far, Dube has amassed 176 runs at a strike rate of 160.
Also read: Shot of the Day: Sunil Narine launches Theekshana for colossal six at Chepauk: CSK vs KKR IPL 2024
Losing skipper Shreyas Iyer said:
It’s deafening out here, but I’ll try to express. We got a phenomenal start in the powerplay, but we lost consecutive wickets. We weren’t able to assess the conditions quickly after the powerplay, scoring runs wasn’t easy. They (CSK) know the conditions pretty well, they bowled according to their plans. Wasn’t easy (for the new batters) to go after them from the first ball.
We were trying to construct the innings, but it didn’t fall in place according to the plan. The wicket changed after the powerplay. We were in a comfortable place and we thought 160-170 was a good score, but we lost momentum. We have to go back to the drawing board and got to learn from that. I am glad this happened at the start of the tournament. When we go back, we know our home conditions pretty well. We need to analyse the situations and need to make the best use of it.
Winning skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said:
Little nostalgic for me. During my first IPL fifty, similar situation, Mahi bhai was with me and we finished the match. Wicket was slightly tricky, didn’t want to put the side under pressure. Was a 150-160 wicket. With this team I don’t need to tell anything to anyone. In T20 sometimes you need little bit of luck to get going.
POTM Ravindra Jadeja said:
Always enjoy my bowling here. Was just looking to bowl in good areas. I’ve practiced a lot here – if you bowl in good areas, it helps you. Takes time for visiting team to settle down and plan something. Difficult for them to come here and identify the surface.
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