Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) kept their slim hopes of reaching Indian Premier Leauge (IPL) 2023 playoffs alive with a historic win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at MA Chidambaram Stadium but skipper Nitish Rana and his team will have to pay fine for maintaining a slow over rate. Rana has been fined Rs 24 lakh for breaching IPL's Code of Conduct which relates to minimum over-rate offences. In addition, each member of the playing XI and the impact player will have to pay Rs 6 lakh or 25 per cent of their match fee, whichever is lesser.
On May 14, Rana also got involved in a heated exchange with the umpires. The incident took place in the 20th over of CSK's innings. Just before Vaibhav Arora was on his mark to bowl the first ball, the umpires informed the skipper that KKR will be allowed one fielder less outside the 30-yard-circle. The umpires took the decision as KKR had exceeded the allotted time to bowl the 20 overs. As per the new rules, if the innings is not completed within the stipulated time then only four players will be allowed outside the circle.
Despite Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube in the middle for the ninth over, Arora conceded just nine runs. Arora bowled one wide and no ball but did not concede a single boundary. In addition, he got the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja as well. Dhoni faced three balls including the free hit delivery but could score only two runs as Dube remained unbeaten for 48 off 34 deliveries at the other end.
As a result, CSK were able to post a below par total of 144/6 which was chased down by KKR with nine balls to spare despite a top-order collapse. Deepak Chahar got three wickets in his spell with the new ball but Rana and Rinku Singh's respective half-centuries helped KKR chase down the target with nine balls to spare.
With their sixth win from 13 games this season, KKR are played seventh on the points table. They will face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their next clash at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on May 20. Even after a big win, they will have to depend on results of other matches to reach playoffs.
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