Simply 48 hours after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chepauk, the Chennai Tremendous Kings landed in Kolkata, and arrived at Eden Gardens with no pre-match follow session. However seldom would you discover a group getting as a lot assist in an away sport as a sea of yellow descended right here on Sunday night, as CSK raced to a 49-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Dhoni mass Entry in Eden Gardens 🧡💯#CSKvsKKR #MSDHONI pic.twitter.com/RoJvsFrCu7
— Vishal ❤️ (@Fans4AlexZverev) April 23, 2023
Their captain, MS Dhoni, reminded everybody on the floor why it was so. “I’ve performed numerous cricket over right here. I had a job in Kharagpur, which was two hours from right here. The love comes from there,” stated Dhoni on the toss. Nonetheless, for the packed area, it did look like a farewell of kinds for his or her ‘King of the East’ (as Ravi Shastri claimed on air.
Driving on it, Chennai have been off to a flier after being requested to bat first. Southpaw Devon Conway started with a bang whereas his associate on the different finish, Ruturaj Gaikwad, after taking part in second fiddle, obtained within the groove as soon as the powerplay ended.
KKR’s seamers didn’t make any early inroads but once more, one thing their bowling coach Bharat Arun had identified a day earlier than the sport. Neither Umesh Yadav’s tempo and bounce, nor Namibian David Wiese’s cutters, introduced any luck. The spin twins of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy did no injury both.
This present of Yellove was huge. Tremendous Thanks, Kolkata! 💛🥳#KKRvCSK #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁 pic.twitter.com/nMwr706n53
— Chennai Tremendous Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 23, 2023
Gaikwad seemed in fabulous contact however was lastly clear bowled after being deceived by Suyash Sharma, however by then, 73 runs have been on the board and Chennai had the proper platform for takeoff. The younger leg-spinner, who ended up selecting 2/29 in his 4 overs, was in all probability the one shiny spark in KKR’s catastrophe class in bowling.
A convincing 4️⃣9️⃣-run win for @ChennaiIPL in Kolkata 🙌🏻
They transfer to the 🔝 of the Factors Desk 😎
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/j56FWB88GA #TATAIPL | #KKRvCSK pic.twitter.com/u7LJLGwKyC
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 23, 2023
Conway smashed his fourth half-century on the trot for CSK. After countering the tempo assault, the place he employed the pull shot to perfection, the Kiwi batter masterfully thwarted the spin trio of Narine, Chakravarthy and Sharma. Numbers reveal how good Conway has been in opposition to spin in IPL 12 months — in his 5 innings earlier than this sport, he had scored 134 runs in 92 balls at an exceptional strike price of 145.65.
Rahane 2.0
Whereas it appeared that KKR, like they’ve typically performed earlier than, would claw again into the sport within the center overs, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube performed freely and stored counter-attacking to place the stress again on the house group. The duo would pummel boundaries at will in opposition to Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, and David Weise as 56 runs got here between the ninth and 14th over as they stitched a partnership of 85 in simply 32 balls, finally the place the sport obtained away from KKR.
Going..Going..GONE 💥
Which was your favorite shot from @ajinkyarahane88‘s magnificent knock tonight? #TATAIPL | #KKRvCSK pic.twitter.com/VLSa7XQ6NB
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 23, 2023
It appeared like Rahane was reborn within the yellow outfit of CSK. His innings was nothing out of the atypical however stuffed with authoritative pictures wherein he performed with the angles. His pickup shot in opposition to Umesh Yadav, and a reverse scoop shot of Kulwant Khejroliya, have been a sight to behold.
Ever seen this model of Ajinkya Rahane 🤯
Strike-rate of 244.8 in 29 balls!
Let that sink in…#IPL2023 #KKRvCSK #Rahane #Jinxpic.twitter.com/PDR6FwRUMF— OneCricket (@OneCricketApp) April 23, 2023
Whereas his strike price in opposition to seamers on this IPL is an astronomical 251, the right-hander additionally confirmed why he’s equally good in opposition to spin, smashing Chakravarthy for 19 within the penultimate over. Displaying nice temperament and an array of pictures, Rahane additionally reminded everybody why writing him off within the limited-overs format can be a grave mistake.
Standard issues
Since Jason Roy harm himself within the area, he was unable to open for KKR. Sunil Narine was thus thrust into the function, one thing which he had excelled up to now, together with Narayan Jagadeesan, making it the fifth opening pair for KKR in IPL 2023. Nevertheless it was the identical story once more because the Knights misplaced each their openers inside the primary two overs, pegging them again proper firstly.
After the early blows, the Knights have been at all times taking part in catch-up. Roy, who got here in later at quantity 5, tonked Moeen Ali for 3 sixes in a row to convey again some respectability to the scoreboard. However getting 160 runs within the final 10 overs was at all times going to be an uphill process. Roy stored hitting the balls at will and introduced up the joint-fastest fifty of this IPL in 19 balls. It was Roy’s onslaught (together with 5 sixes and as many fours) that took KKR from 76/4 in 10 overs to 120/4 in 13, thus by some means maintaining them alive within the sport.
However Maheesh Theekshana, who was clobbered for a six and 4, held his nerve to shatter the stumps and ship Roy again to the pavilion for a 26-ball 61. In the direction of the top, Rinku Singh additionally waged a lone battle and introduced up one other fifty within the event, however ultimately, their bowling had left them too excessive a mountain to climb.