Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets over Chennai Super Kings in the 61st match of the ongoing IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 14. Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to bat. They managed 144 runs in 20 overs where Shivam Dube top-scored with 48* off 34.

While chasing, Kolkata Knight Riders lost 3 early wickets. However, Nitish Rana scored 57* and Rinku Singh scored 52 and they sealed the deal in 18.3 overs as well.

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Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:

Rinku Singh, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Lost some wickets early. When I went in, Nitish bhaiyya said it’s a tough wicket. Will knock it around for singles and capitalise on loose balls. I bat in the same position in domestic cricket, play the same way. I eat well, have always had the power. A lot of hard work behind it.

Nitish Rana said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Said at the toss that if all 3 departments do well, our chances are good. Have to give credit to Chandu sir (coach Chandrakant Pandit) for this – I wasn’t in favour of taking heavy roller but he insisted to go for it. I feared pitch might break up. But that didn’t happen and ball didn’t turn much. Every team has home advantage except KKR.

Sunil Narine said as quoted by Cricbuzz: (On his performance today) Probably the pitch helped, was just trying to use the conditions as best I could. (On why he’s struggled at times this season)The pitches are good, and with the extra player coming in the batters have more leeway, but we need to plan accordingly to counter that. You can plan and you can innovate, but sometimes it is just about keeping it as simple as possible and enjoying your wicket.

MS Dhoni, CSK captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: One of those days when you win the toss and bat first and the moment the first ball was bowled in the second innings, you realise it is a 180 wicket. Batting first I don’t think we could have got anywhere close to 180. I think the dew made a big difference. If you compare the first innings to the second innings, there was a lot more purchase for the spinners in the first innings and that’s what really got to us. (Can’t blame anyone for the loss) Yes, I think so. Whenever there is no certainty about dew that is when the decision (at the toss) becomes slightly tricky. And as I said, you win the toss and you bowl first and you realize there is no dew in the second innings, chasing 150 against their spinners could have been tough too. So we can’t really blame any batter or bowler for this loss. They tried their best, but the conditions had a big impact on the game.

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(Of what has been told to Shivam Dube this season) Well we have spoken a lot, it should remain in the dressing room what we spoke to him. What are the areas he needs to work on. Very happy with the way he has done and it’s important for him to keep continuing game after game and not get satisfied with what he has done. He has done that job for us in the middle overs to get us as many runs as possible. So I just wish him that he keeps continuing. (On Deepak Chahar) He is somebody who swings the ball and has a fair idea of the game, where to keep the fielders and he bowls accordingly. He is definitely an asset. At times… I feel now he is very experienced to realize at times that if it is not swinging what is the length to bowl. Because in games where you don’t have too many runs on the board, you have to get slightly smart.. once you know it’s not swinging (for him), it will not swing for anyone.