IPL 2019: CSK vs KKR, Who said what: World reacts as Chennai Super Kings go back to the top of the points table
On a pitch which aided swing and spin, the Chennai Super Kings bowlers ran through the Kolkata Knight Riders batting order.
After Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh gave the perfect start to CSK by picking up four wickets in the powerplay, Imran Tahir further reduced Kolkata to 47-6.
It took a great effort from Andre Russell to take KKR past 100. Russell, with his 44-ball 50, helped KKR set a target of 109.
During the chase, Chennai lost only 3 wickets and ended up chasing the total with 16 balls to spare. Faf du Plessis anchored the innings through by scoring a useful 43 and helped Chennai take back the top spot on the points table from Kolkata.
Here's how the world reacted to CSK's win over KKR at Chennai:
MS Dhoni, CSK captain: I have been here for a very long time. A lot of good things have happened for me here including my Test debut. The crowd loves CSK and I have been a part of the franchise from the start. It is a special connection and they have really adopted me. We have been cribbing about the track but we have ended up winning the game. Losing Bravo, it is slightly difficult for us to get the combination as we are missing the all-rounder. David is not here as well. So, it can't be a straight swap. I don't think we want to be playing on these tracks. It becomes too low scoring. It becomes slightly difficult for our batsmen as well. The age is on their side. Bhajji has done well in whatever games he has played. I have fallen back on Tahir and he has done the job. He has confidence in me. He has got a very good flipper. He is someone who if you tell that this is the right pace to bowl on, he does it most of the times. I feel it's important not to have the same plans for batters.
Dinesh Karthik, KKR captain: Definitely not enough runs on the board. These are tricky games and you don't know how many runs to set with the dew and everything, but when the game finishes you feel you gave got 20 more runs, so it's always a catch-22 situation. When you lose four wickets in the powerplay, you are always behind the eight-ball. Then you have to consolidate and probably hope to go well towards the end, but we couldn't do that. But credit to Russell, he showed a lot of maturity and I am pleased with the way he's shaping up. I was happy with the general attitude, I like the way we tried defending a small total, especially the spinners with the wet ball. I don't think it was a lack of concentration from our side with the bat. We have been on the road for three games, but have won two in five days and we shouldn't be too greedy. We've tried hard and as a captain, I am okay with not coming up on top every day. When we return, we need to regroup. Two good teams playing and it should be a good match against Delhi next. (Message to the team) Enjoy, forget today, next game is a new game, a new day.
Deepak Chahar, Man of the Match: I think I knew we are going to play a lot of games at Chennai. So, I worked on my slower ball and yorkers. I spend a lot of time in the dressing room with MS while playing TT and I have got to learn a lot from him. With Bravo injured, I have got the opportunity to bowl at the death.
Harsha Bhogle:
Aakash Chopra:
RP Singh:
Ayaz Menon:
Boria Majumdar:
Rahul Sharma:
Gaurav Kalra:
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