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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured their place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 playoffs with a thrilling last-ball win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The two-wicket win created an IPL record as this is the seventh time CSK have won a match off the final delivery while chasing. KKR were handed their first win of the second leg of IPL which makes it tough for them to qualify for playoffs.
Final over drama
Sunil Narine almost managed to become the second bowler in the season to defend four runs in the last over. After getting Curran’s wicket first ball, he was able to beat Shardul Thakur. The third ball went for three runs as Thakur played it towards fine leg region. Narine followed it up with a dot ball to Jadeja and then got his wicket. New batter Deepak Chahar managed to hit the ball over in-field and got his team over the line with a single.
Jadeja’s late cameo
With MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina getting out in the same over, the match tilted in KKR’s favour. CSK needed 30 runs off the last 15 balls. Jadeja targeted Prasidh Krishna in the penultimate over hitting a couple of sixes and fours to bring CSK to doorstep of victory. Krishna leaked 22 runs off the 19th over which led to an uphill task for Narine in last over. Jadeja scored 22 runs from just eight deliveries with a strike rate of 275.
Curran disappoints
Sam Curran replaced Dwayne Bravo in the side but performed the office of what the Caribbean has been doing for CSK. Curran gave away 56 runs from his quota of four overs. The English all-rounder disappointed with the bat as well. With four runs needed off the last over, Curran got out off the first ball to Sunil Narine which led to added drama and the game staying alive till the last ball.
Another good start for CSK
CSK got off to a good start in the run chase of 172. In-form Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 40 runs from 28 balls whereas Faf du Plessis scored 43 runs from 30 deliveries. The two shared an opening partnership of 74 and laid the foundation of the run chase. They also became the fourth CSK pair to record a partnership of 500 runs or more in a season.
Karthik back to scoring runs
Batting at no. 7, Dinesh Karthik played the role assigned to him perfectly. The wicketkeeper-batsman got KKR a much-needed momentum in the death overs with his 11-ball 26 including three fours and one six at a strike rate of 236.36.
