Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings locked horns in the 38th match of the Indian Premier League 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Both teams have started the second leg in the UAE with two victories and were looking to build on the momentum.
Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to bat first. He named an unchanged playing XI while MS Dhoni brought Sam Curran in place of Dwayne Bravo, who was rested for the game.
Also Read: Chennai Super Kings played like a unit against RCB, Dwayne Bravo reacts
Shubhman Gill started the game with two boundaries and looked in good touch but a huge mix-up resulted in Gill getting run out. Venkatesh Iyer played some good shots but got out to Shardul Thakur after scoring 18. Eoin Morgan got out cheaply in no time.
Rahul Tripathi scored 45 runs in 33 balls, where he hit four boundaries and one six. But he also got out at the wrong time leaving KKR struggling at 89/4. Andre Russell played a little cameo towards the end before getting cleaned up by Shardul Thakur. Dinesh Karthik (26) and Nitish Rana (37*) dragged KKR’s total to 171/6 in 20 overs.
During teh first innings, Nitish Rana looked upset after playing a shot and heard on teh stumping saying a cuss word sounding similar to that of ‘Ben Stokes” name. Here is the video of the same:
— Aman Jaiswal 🔥 (@jaiswal_45) September 26, 2021
In response, CSK openers came out with all guns blazing. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis stitched together a 74-run opening stand and set the stage for a big chase. Gaikwad got out for 40 in 28 balls, which includes two fours and three sixes. Du Plessis also fell soon for 43.
Also Read: Faf du Plessis takes a stunning catch to dismiss Eoin Morgan, Watch
Moeen Ali, then, hung around to steer CSK home but didn’t find any support. Every batsman came and contributed in double digits before getting out. KKR put the pressure on CSK and they were needed to score 26 runs in 12 balls. Then came the Ravindra Jadeja show, who smashed 22 runs in the penultimate over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a tight last over and had dismissed both Sam Curran and Jadeja. Deepak Chahar kept his head cool and sneaked a single on the last ball to take CSK over the line with two wickets in hand.
See how Twitter reacted to this game;
That was spectacular. Fantastic last over by Narine but Jadeja sealed the game with that incredible assault in the 19th over. They are back and back in style, are the Chennai Superkings @ChennaiIPL #CSKvsKKR pic.twitter.com/XJmKrR2tnW
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 26, 2021
What a player this Jadeja is! 4 overs for 21 and a wicket. And a game changing innings. There is little that he cannot do!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 26, 2021
Fantastic from Jadeja. What an asset for any team #csk
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 26, 2021
Great last over from Narine, but CSK scrape thru to win, halting KKR’s surge. MI, RCB, PBKS and RR will feel somewhat relieved!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 26, 2021
Real Sunday entertainment that match. Jaddu the star for @ChennaiIPL and that one over killed it for Kolkata.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 26, 2021
19th over should always be bowled by the better bowler. Narine should have bowled that and not young Prasidh. Even matchup wise spinner was better against both Jadeja & Curran. Cost KKR the match and probably a spot in the playoffs.
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 26, 2021
Jadeja averaging 80 with scoring at 8.3 an over in this IPL. Surely he needs to be batting above Dhoni who is averaging 13 and struggling to go at a run a ball.
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) September 26, 2021
#VarunChakravarthy Superb at the start overs and in the death
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 26, 2021