The comeback of MS Dhoni as captain did not go as planned, as on Friday, April 11, the Chennai Super Kings lost to the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, in the most balls remaining in the Indian Premier League's history. After Ruturaj Gaikwad suffered a season-ending injury, Dhoni was reinstated as captain of the five-time champions, which generated a lot of excitement. But it seemed like CSK missed their finest batsman much more than they gained from Dhoni taking over again.
Ajinkya Rahane on KKR's win
"We had our plans. I have played here last two years, so has Moeen. DJ knows the conditions as well. The wicket is a bit sticky, the ball stops on you a bit. Credit goes to the spinners, our plans worked well today. Long way to go in the tournament, don't want to share too much of those plans. (On Moeen's inclusion) In the end, it looked spot-on. (On the surface) I thought the wicket would play together, it looked like a 170 type of wicket. But can't take any credit away from the bowlers. Moeen played well - never easy to play just one game and then miss out, and then come back in. So did Sunny and Varun. Sunny went for runs in the last game, but came back strong. So did Vaibhav and Harshit. All in all a good bowling performance," said Ajinkya Rahane in the post-match presentation.
"(On his batting) I'm enjoying my batting, really worked hard last 2-3 years and coming of well. Just want to stay in the moment and keep it really simple. (Was NRR on the minds) Initially no, but after 6 overs we thought if we could finish the game early, it would be good for us. (On the road ahead) Sometimes you play good cricket but lose, last game was tough for us, losing by 4 runs. Lots of learnings for us, we would like to win now though., Don't want a win loss, win loss kind of season. All about staying positive," he added.
CSK register their lowest home score
The Chennai Super Kings' batting collapsed once more, scoring the lowest score in IPL history at Chepauk. The bowlers for the Kolkata Knight Riders were spot on from the first over, giving the hitters nothing. CSK could only generate 103 runs in their 20 overs at a cost of nine wickets, while Sunil Narine claimed figures of 3 for 13 in his four overs. Moeen Ali, a former member of CSK, took out Devon Conway to claim the opening wicket of the evening.
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The CSK batters were swiftly reduced to 71 for 6 in the 15th over after falling like nine pins. After the eighth over, CSK went for 63 balls without hitting a boundary. In the powerplay overs, they also failed to hit a six. In the powerplay, Chennai also used 17 dot balls. They would have been bowled out for 79, which would have been their lowest IPL total, had it not been for Shivam Dube's 31.
KKR comfortably complete chase
The defending champions were off to a start which was opposite to the hosts. Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine joined a 46-run opening partnership. They joined these runs in the first four overs itself. However, Anshul Kamboj struck on the very first ball of the fifth over and sent back De Kock to the dugout. He scored 23 runs off 16 balls.
However, CSK could not capitalise this breakthrough as Sunil Narine kept on progressing the scoreboard at a good pace. He smashed 44 runs off just 18 balls before Noor Ahmad removed him in the 8th over. Although this breakthrough came really late, as KKR already had 85 runs on board. The remainder was done by Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh, who took the Knights over the line with 59 balls still remaining.