Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 27 runs in the IPL 2021 final here yesterday to win their fourth title.
KKR were off to a great start in their high pressure chase as openers Venkatesh Iyer (50) and Shubman Gill (51) put on 91 for the first wicket but Shardul Thakur picked up two wickets in an over to bring CSK back in the match. From then on it was one way traffic as all KKR batters perished one after another in their pursuit of the big target of 193 runs. Thakur finished with 3 wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Josh Hazlewood finished with two apiece.
Earlier, Chennai posted 192 for three in 20 overs with Faf du Plessis smashing 86 off 59 balls. Moeen Ali played a fine cameo, remaining unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls as KKR bowlers were hit to all parts of the park.
Sunil Narine was the standout among KKR bowlers, taking two wickets for 26 runs off his four overs. Du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad had shared a 61-run opening partnership to give CSK a solid start. Faf du Plessis went on to slam a 35-ball half-century to put CSK on top while his partner Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 32 off 27 balls before being dismissed. Robin Uthappa walked into the middle and hit some big shots to keep the run-rate up. He was dismissed for 31 off 15 balls by Sunil Narine.
This post was published on October 16, 2021 5:00 pm