The match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders was expected to be a high-scoring cracker but it rather turned into a low-scoring game. Chennai won the toss and invited Kolkata to have a bat on a typical MA Chidambaram pitch. KKR lost their four wickets in no time as Deepak Chahar ran riots during the powerplay. He dismissed Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana for a duck while Robin Uthappa was his third wicket. Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir took two wickets apiece as KKR managed just 108/9 in 20 overs. Andre Russell was the reason that they crossed 100-run mark as he scored an unbeaten 50 runs in 44 balls.
In response, Shane Watson played some big shots to avoid initial butterflies and stroked 17 runs off 9 balls. Suresh Raina was in some mood to play big shots but he too couldn’t cross 20-run mark. Sunil Narine was the man with both wickets. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis was playing slowly but steadily. He anchored Chennai’s run-chase with an unbeaten 45-ball 43 runs, where he hit three boundaries. Ambati Rayudu scored crucial 21 runs to hand CSK a seven-wicket win in 17.2 overs.
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Deepak Chahar (CSK)
Chennai’s opening bowler Deepak Chahar was swinging the ball since the first ball. He sent Chris Lynn back in the very first over for a five-ball duck. His second over saw Nitish Rana falling in his trap for a second duck of the innings. Robin Uthappa was his last victim, who scored 11 runs and was caught by Ravindra Jadeja near the boundary rope. Chahar bowled 20 dot balls in his spell as he finished with figures of 3/20 in four overs.
Andre Russell (KKR)
KKR’s star all-rounder played an unlike-Russell innings. He came to bat after Dinesh Karthik’s dismissal in the ninth over. He batted according to the need of the hour and stitched crucial 29 runs for the last wicket. Russell played 44 balls for his unbeaten 50 runs, which saw five fours and three sixes. This was his efforts, which took Kolkata’s innings to 108/9.
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Faf du Plessis (CSK)
South African captain Faf du Plessis played an anchor’s role during Chennai’s quest to chase 109 runs. He saw three wickets falling in front of his eyes but he didn’t go for anything fancy and kept it simple. He scored unbeaten 43 runs in 45 balls, where he hit three boundaries out of which two came in the last six balls.
