Chennai: Chennai Super Kings (CSK), back in front of their home crowd after a two year ban out-smart Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a keenly contested tie by five wickets, which saw Sam Billings help his team to reach the target at the Chepauk grounds in Chennai on Tuesday.
With 75 required off 36 balls, and Dhoni at the Crease, the fans expected fireworks from him, but Billings stole the show with his matured and calculated innings as CSK romped home by 5 wickets. He was adjudged the Man of the Match for his knock of 56 in 23 balls which included 5 sixes.
Needing 17 off the last over, KKR pacer Vinay Kumar started horribly as he bowled a no-ball and the ball went for a six off Dwayne Bravo’s bat. His over turned into a nightmare when Jadeja signed off with a huge six that had everyone in Chennai on their feet.
For KKR though, it was snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as Andre Russell gave a brilliant display of power-hitting as his unbeaten 88 off just 36 balls with 11 sixes helped KKR notch up a winning 202/6 in their 20 overs.
The CSK chase began well with Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu going berserk right from the word go. But KKR finally pulled it back with Tom Curran sending back Watson for a 19-ball 42 as CSK ended the power-play on 75/1 after 6 overs. That didn’t help as Rayudu (39 off 26) followed suit 3 overs later and Suresh Raina (14 off 12) failed to rise to the occasion as he has over the years.
A mini-attack from Dhoni and Sam Billings meant that the hosts needed 51 from 24 balls with 7 wickets still in the bag. But Piyush Chawla dismissed Dhoni, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik for 25, when the team needed 48 off 22 balls. This gave KKR a renewed hope, but Billings had other plans and stole the show.
Earlier, After Dhoni won the toss and decided to put KKR in to bat, KKR started off on a positive note. But soon collapsed to 89 for 5 in 10 overs. Then walked in Russell and the tables turned.
Russell goes berserk for Kolkata
Russell came in to join Karthik and he tore the CSK bowling apart with his big hitting as they set a target of 203 for the hosts.
Scores
KKR: 202 for six in 20 overs (A. Russell 88 n.o, Robin Uthappa 29, Dinesh Karthik 26, Shane Watson two for 39) lost to CSK 205 for five in 19.5 overs ( Shane Watson 42, Ambati Rayudu 39, Sam Billings 56, M.S.Dhoni 25, Tom Curran two for 39).
This post was published on April 11, 2018 5:44 pm