Home
Riding on batting blitzes from the troika of Ajinkya Rahane, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bulldozed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 49 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata on Sunday (April 23).
A match which was no less than a six-hitting show, Devon Conway (56 off 40), Ajinkya Rahane (71 off 29) and Shivam Dube (50 off 21) combined to whack 13 sixes to help CSK post a monumental total of 235. CSK belted a total of 18 sixes in their innings, which is their highest in the IPL so far. In reply, KKR ran out of steam and were restricted to 186/8 despite Jason Roy's lightning 61 off 26 and Rinku Singh's quickfire 53 off 33. Maheesh Thikshana (2/32) and Tushar Deshpande (2/43) were the pick of the bowlers for CSK with two wickets each.
After beating KKR, CSK scripted their hat-trick of victories and hence shot to top of the points table by dethroning Rajasthan Royals.
While chasing a colossal target of 236 runs, the KKR openers couldn't do much as Narayan Jagadeesan (1), and Sunil Narine (0) and walked back to pavilion and left already jolted KKR in lurch. KKR's fresh centurion Venkatesh Iyer (20 off 20) and captain Nitish Rana (27 off 20) tried to steady the boat by building a partnership but were given the marching orders by Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja respectively to leave KKR reeling at 70/4 after eight overs.
Jason Roy (61) did showed an intent to pose a threat to CSK bowlers with his confident knock as he paired up power hitter Rinku Singh (53) and managed to stitch a 65-run partnership. But, Maheesh Theekshana rocked KKR's hopes and halted Roy storm in the 15th over. After his dismissal, KKR sent his most effective power-hitter Andre Russell who scored 9 runs in 6 balls. Also, the followed up batters – David Wiese (1) and Umesh Yadav (4) – were dismissed soon. By the end of 20 overs, KKR could not chase the whopping 236 target and lost by 49 runs in the homeground.
Earlier, a revolutionised Rahane put up a show at the iconic Eden Gardens with a riveting 29-ball-71 while Shivam Dube smashed another fifty to help CSK post an imposing 235/4 against KKR. The 34-year-old Rahane, transmogrified himself from a Test batter to a perfect fit for T20 fold, dished out some never-seen scoop shots, ruthless pulls laced with his signature drives in his half-centurion knock. Rahane smoked sixes fours and five maximums in his 29-ball cracking knock with came at a mind boggling strike rate of 244. He completed his half century in mere 24 balls. Meanwhile, Conway hogged limelight yet again with yet another half century (40-ball-56) which was his fourth in the IPL 2023. Conway found a partner in Ruturaj Gaikwad (35; 20b) as the dazzling duo put stitched together 73-run partnership for the opening wicket, before Rahane's blitzkrieg.
But Suyash Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Conway and Gaikwad respectively in the space of 37 runs. But another stellar knock was due from Shivam Dube who hammered a blistering 50 off 24 riding on two fours and five sixes and weaved a 85-run partnership with Rahane and CSK stamped 235 runs after losing 4 wickets. For KKR, Kulwant Khejroliya picked two wickets, while Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma managed to click one wicket each. Apart from that all the KKR bowlers appeared struggling.
ALSO READ:
Watch: Virat Kohli hurls flying kiss to Anushka Sharma during RCB vs RR tie, here's how she reacted
IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals announce former SRH's star batter as Kamlesh Nagarkoti's replacement
