IPL 2018, KKR vs CSK: 5 reasons why CSK lost

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It was a highly anticipated clash at the Eden Gardens as the Kolkata Knight Riders looked to push up the table by beating the Chennai Super Kings. Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field first.

Chennai got off to a fantastic start as Shane Watson continued in his rich vein of form. But a brilliant spell from Sunil Narine applied the stranglehold on Chennai’s innings. It took a Dhoni special to guide Chennai to a competitive score of 177.

In reply, Kolkata got off to a fast start courtesy a cameo from Sunil Narine. But the hero of the match was Shubhman Gill, who made his first IPL fifty to help Kolkata chase down the target with 14 balls to spare. Let us look at the 5 reasons why Chennai lost the contest.

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#1 Middle overs struggle

Chennai again got off to a strong start but lost their way in the middle overs. After piling on 90 runs in the first 10 overs, they could only score 31 runs in the next 5 overs as Kolkata’s spinners exercised control.

Both Shane Watson and Suresh Raina were well set and losing them in consecutive overs, sucked the momentum out of Chennai’s innings as both Ambati Rayadu and M.S. Dhoni looked to rebuild. In the end, it turned out to be the difference between a match-winning score and a competitive one.

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