As the IPL gets to its business end, the top half of the table is heating up with a top-four spot still open for the majority of teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders who are vying for a spot in the eliminators gave up a golden opportunity to make two points as they lost of CSK by 6 wickets in the 49th match of the IPL at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
With KKR’s loss, Mumbai Indians have automatically qualified for the top 4 as KKR still sit in the 5th position with 12 points from 13 matches.
Losing the toss and being put in to bat, KKR scored a respectable 172 for the loss of 5 wickets with Nitish Rana top-scoring with an impressive 87 off 61 balls.
Chasing the target, Chennai crossed the finishing line on the last ball of the game after Jadeja hit a 6 off Nargarkoti to snatch the win. Ruturaj Gaikwad top-scored for CSK with 72 runs. The win comes too late for CSK as they have no hope for qualifying for the eliminators but they sure have spoiled KKR’s party.
Here’s a look at the top 5 performers of the match.
1. Jaddu To The Rescue
Ravindra Jadeja got CSK across the finish line with a scintillating final over finish when he hit Nagarkoti for two consecutive sixes in the final two deliveries of the match.
Jadeja who scored 31 runs off just 11 deliveries hit three 6s and two 4s in his blitzkrieg innings.
Jadeja was also a star performer with the ball as he picked up a wicket giving away 20 runs in 3 overs with the lowest economy rate in the bowling lineup.
We cannot forget the contribution from Ambati Rayudu as he set it up for Jadeja by scoring 38 off 20 balls.
2. Rana On a Rampage
The opening pair of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana laid a solid foundation for the middle order batsmen by getting KKR off to a good start. The opening pair put up 53 runs on the board before Shubman was cleaned up by a peach of a delivery by Karn Sharma.
With the intent of keeping the scoreboard ticking, Rana went into a shell in the middle overs where he focused on picking up singles with the odd boundary.
It was towards the end of the innings that he took on the bowlers and even thrashed three consecutive 6s off Karn Sharma’s bowling.
In the end, trying to play a lofted stroke off Ndidi’s bowling, Rana handed a simple catch to Sam Curran to depart for a well-made 87 runs off just 61 deliveries. This was redemption for the Delhi-born left-hander as he had gotten out for a golden duck in his previous game.
3. The CSK Spin Trio
As much as we would have liked to pick one bowler, it was actually the combined efforts of Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner that got Chennai back in the game in the middle overs.
Despite being 48 for no loss in the opening powerplay, the bowlers got CSK back in the game by getting the run rate under 7 an over in the middle overs.
Each picked up a wicket and bowled at a decent economy rate to make sure that KKR didn’t run away with the innings. In terms of bowling figures, Ravindra Jadeja stood out by giving away 20 runs in his 3 overs at an economy rate of 6.60.
South Africa pacer Lungi Ndidi chipped in with 2 wickets giving away 34 runs in his 4 overs.
4. Quickfire Runs from DK
Former KKR Skipper Dinesh Karthik who has often been criticised about his place in the KKR team came good for his team today with a swift 21 runs off just 10 balls.
Karthik got three boundaries in his innings and focused mostly on taking on the seamers and adhered to caution against spinners.
Prior to this innings, Karthik has been through a dismal run of poor performances as he has scored just 40 runs in the previous 5 games. Even after the game, DK has one of the worst batting averages in the tournament.
He has given up the captaincy to Eoin Morgan citing that he wanted to focus on his batting, but apparently, that ploy did not work well for the former India international.
5. The Future of CSK Perhaps
Ruturaj Gaikwad played a gm of an innings as he managed to score 72 runs off 53 balls where he hit six 4s and two 6s.
CSK, who are missing the services of opening batsmen Faf du Plessis, sent out Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the innings with Shane Watson. Gaikwad took a calculated approach to his innings and attacked only the loose deliveries initially.
Having scored an unbeaten 65 runs in his previous game against RCB, the right-handed batsman from Maharashtra reached his half-century off 37 balls and strung a good partnership worth 68 runs with Ambati Rayudu.
Kicking off his IPL season with consecutive ducks in his first two innings, it seems that Gaikwad has finally found his mojo. Unfortunately, it’s too late for CSK as their hopes of qualifying for the eliminators are already over.
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