Chennai Super Kings, on Monday (April 8), returned to winning ways with a clinical seven-wicket victory over the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
KKR came into this game on the back of three emphatic wins. They scored 208, 186 and 272 runs in their last three games before reaching Chennai. On the other hand, CSK had lost their last two matches and started the match as losers.
However, the reigning champions showed why they are one of the most successful teams in IPL history by completely dismantling KKR. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led team dominated the game with bat and ball to win the clash. From the toss to Gaikwad’s winning boundary, almost everything went well for the hosts.
Bowling first, CSK managed to limit the free-scoring KKR to a modest total of 137/9. KKR were at 56 for 1 at one stage before Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the seventh over to reduce them to 60 for 3. KKR could not recover from those twin blows and eventually finished with just 137 runs. Barring captain Shreyas Iyer (34), no other KKR batsman could reach the 30-run mark.
In response, CSK crossed the finish line in the 18th over with captain Gaikwad starring with the bat. He scored an unbeaten fifty to take his team home comfortably. After Rachin Ravindra departed for 15 in the fourth over, Gaikwad shared a 70-run stand with Daryl Mitchell (25) before adding 38 runs with Shivam Dube (28). Then he and MS Dhoni took the team home.
MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir hug each other:
After the match, MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir shared a touching moment. The former Indian teammates hugged each other and made small talk during the customary post-match handshake. Both former India players were smiling as they talked to each other.
Look:
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– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) April 8, 2024
Meanwhile, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer rued his team’s failure to assess the conditions in Chennai after the defeat and said, “We had a phenomenal start in the powerplay but lost consecutive wickets. We failed to assess the conditions quickly after The power play and scoring runs was not easy.
“They (CSK) know the conditions quite well, they played according to their plans. It was not easy (for the new batsmen) to chase them from the first ball. We were trying to build the innings, but it was not possible. “It will be fielded as planned. The wicket changed after the power play,” he added.