IPL 2019: CSK cruise to a routine 7-wicket win over KKR
Chennai Super Kings cruised to an easy seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the 23rd match of IPL 2019 played at M Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday. With the win, CSK have leapfrogged KKR to occupy the top spot in the IPL points table.
CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to field first. It was a perfect start for CSK as Deepak Chahar dismissed Chris Lynn in the very first over itself.
Harbhajan Singh then deceived Sunil Narine with his flight to get him caught for just six runs. Chahar then struck again, dismissing Nitish Rana for 0.
Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik played a few good strokes before Chahar got into the act once more, getting rid of Uthappa. At the end of six overs, KKR were reduced to 29 for 4.
After the powerplay overs, the CSK bowlers continued to pick wickets at regular intervals and never allowed KKR to score runs easily.
With nine wickets down for 79 runs, Andre Russell took most of the strike and played another brilliant innings for his team. He reached his fifty off 44 balls and helped KKR post a below par total of 108 for 9 in 20 overs.
For CSK, Chahar took three wickets, Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir took two wickets each, and Ravindra Jadeja took one.
Chasing a target of 109 runs Shane Watson got off to a decent start, hitting two fours and one six, before being dismissed by Narine. Suresh Raina scored 14 off 13 balls before a brilliant catch by Piyush Chawla ended his innings.
At the end of six overs, CSK were 40 for 2.
After the powerplay overs, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis played with caution, taking a lot of singles. The KKR spinners kept a tight leash on things, before Chawla dismissed Rayudu for 21. Rayudu and Du Plessis had added 46 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Du Plessis and Kedar Jadhav then added an unbeaten 30 runs for the 4th wicket to help CSK register an emphatic win.
Brief scores: CSK 111 for 3 in 17.2 overs (Faf du Plessis 43*, Ambati Rayudu 21, Sunil Narine 2/24, Piyush Chawla 1/28) beat KKR 108 for 9 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 50*, Dinesh Karthik 19, Deepak Chahar 3/20, Imran Tahir 2/21, Harbhajan Singh 2/15) by 7 wickets.