CSK vs KKR Final: is a contest between Chennai’s batsmen and Kolkata’s spinners.
CSK batsmen vs KKR spinners. (Sportzpics/IPL)IPL 2021, CSK vs KKR Highlights: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) move back to the top of the IPL 2021 points table with a two-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 172, CSK top-order batsmen chipped with handy contributions but they wobbled towards the end before Ravindra Jadeja pulled off the win with an 8-ball 22. Faf du Plessis (44), Ruturaj Gaikwad (40) and Moeen Ali (32) were the other contributors. Earlier, KKR scored 171/6 after opting to bat. Rahul Tripathi made 45 off 33 balls, while useful contributions also came from Nitish Rana (37 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (26).
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: 171/6 in 20 overs (Rahul Tripathi 45, Nitish Rana 37 not out, Dinesh Karthik 26; Shardul Thakur 2/20). Chennai Super Kings: 172/8 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 44, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40, Ravindra Jadeja 22; Sunil Narine 3/41).
Chennai Super Kings
172/8 (20.0)Kolkata Knight Riders
171/6 (20.0)Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 wickets
Last ball! Narine to bowl. Deepak Chahar, in at 10, will face. The entire field has come in. What a finish! Narine and Morgan in conference. Shardul looks on from the non-striker's end. His task is clear - he will run for a single whatever happens like his life depends on it. Chahar's job the more challenging one. Here we go!
Chahar wins it off the last ball! CSK win off the last ball by 2 wickets and go to the top of the table.
Shardul comes in at 9. Sweeps. 3 runs run through. Scores are tied. 1 run to win, 3 balls left. Field comes in. Morgan moving his fielders around. Surely too much to ask of his team now. Jadeja is struck on the pad. Dot ball. 1 run needed off 2 balls. Jadeja is lbw! What a finish!
CSK need 1 run off 1 ball
Sam Curran on strike. Narine bowls. 3 runs to defend. Curran goes big off the first ball. Caught.
CSK 168/7, 4 needed off 5 balls
Prasidh bowls the 19th over, which means Narine, who has been expensive, will be bowling the final over. With 24 needed off 10 balls, Jadeja pulls for a six. Much needed! Next ball, Jadeja goes big again! No, huge! 'Straight to the Arabian Gulf', chirps the electronic scoreboard at the ground. Jadeja has come to the party. Four! Jadeja on fire now! 22 runs plundered off the 19th over. Prasidh Krishna wears the look of a ghost.
CSK 168/6, need 4 runs in last over
The googly from Varun sees the back of Dhoni, who misses the turn of the ball. KKR are all over this match in the last few overs. Dhoni departs for a 4-ball 1. Jadeja and with CSK needing a bit of a counter-attack now. Jadeja, Curran,Shardul, Chahar - they can all send the ball a distance though.
CSK 142/6, need 30 runs in 15 balls
Varun bowls the 18th. Dhoni faces. There's a run out! Raina is run out! Dhonis loses his lieutenant. It's falling apart for CSK. Can they hold it together in the last phase?
CSK 142/5, need 30 runs in 17 balls
Disaster for KKR but not on the pitch. Russell goes off the field with an injury. But then, there's disaster for CSK. Moeen Ali goes for the six but it's Venkatesh Iyer (who is doing everything for KKR) who takes the catch. Moeen walks for 32. Dhoni joins Raina.
CSK 138/4, need 34 runs in 20 balls
Dhoni and Raina. 20 balls left. We've seen this so many times! Do we have a redux today?
Raina comes in at 5 and gets a boundary off his first ball. With CSK not cowering under pressure, KKR throw in a gamble. Venkatesh Iyer wil bowl an over. A seamer's action, the first time we are seeing KKR's joker in the pack bowl. And this Iyer can do no wrong! What an over! Just 5 runs off it.
KKR 132/3, need 40 runs in 4 overs
The Rayudu-Moeen partnership operating at a run rate of less than 3. Varun Chakaravarthy gives away just 3 runs in the 14th over, signifying the change in the momentum of this chase. Narine, whose first 2 overs were expensive, now brought back. And Rayudu makes room and gets the first boundary for CSK in 4 overs. Next ball, Rayudu is bowled by Narine.
CSK 119/3 after after 14.2
Moeen Ali keeps roaring, Faf keeps swinging for the fence as well, but one of his swings is caught at deep extra cover. He falls for 43. The KKR innings had fallen into a bog in the middle overs, CSK are losing wickets in the middle over but ensuring that their run rate does not drop. Rayudu in at 4.
CSK 102/2 after 11.3
Moeen Ali comes in at 3 to join Du Plessis. Lockie brought back in the 10th over as KKR look for inroads to make this road a little bumpier for CSK than it is. Moeen Ali now takes the bull by the horns. A four and a six to end the 10th over.
CSK 89/1 after 10
Fire being fought with fire! Russell charges in at Gaikwad, Gaikwad charges back and hits a six down the ground. Next ball, Russell gets an outside edge to land as a catch. He gets the first breakthrough. Gaikwad goes for 40.
CSK 74/1 after 8.2
Gaikwad lays into Narine in the 5th over as well, getting a 4 and a 6. And Faf gets two boundaries in the 6th over as well, bowled by Lockie. CSK cross 50 in the 6th over. Making good time in the chase now.
CSK 52/0 after 6
Against a team of knights, Chennai Super Kings needed a Lord and a Sir to pull things back. Annointed Lord Shardul and Sir Jadeja, they bowled four overs in the middle in tandem and gave away just 20 runs. Lady luck was smiling on Kolkata Knight Riders. A leading edge from Venkatesh Iyer fell inches short of a diving Faf du Plessis. MS Dhoni took a sharp catch of Rahul Tripathi off Sam Curran, but it was a no-ball for height. Only in T20 cricket, can a perfectly well-directed bouncer be called a no-ball, not for overstepping. Riding their luck and some lively hitting, KKR were 50/1 in five overs. Shardul Thakur came and induced an edge behind the stumps from Iyer in his very first ball. Why the batsman asked for a review was anybody's guess and Iyer walked back admonishing himself. Ravindra Jadeja bowled his overs through, out-guessing Tripathi in the process. By the time the latter realised that his attempted reverse sweep was a little too pre-meditated, he was clean bowled. Tripathi was livid with himself. Jadeja had spun CSK into ascendency.
Du Plessis getting into his groove for CSK meanwhile.
CSK 34/0 after 4.2
Du Plessis and Gaikwad get CSK off to a solid but watchful start, as KKR operate with Prasidh and Lockie.
CSK 18/0 after 3
Karthik uses the length and breadth of his crease to maneouvre Curran to all parts of the ground as 19 runs are plundered off the 19th over.
20th over. Karthik looking ominous as Hazlewood set to finish for CSK. Karthik gets a top edge to go over Dhoni for four. The umpire goes to the 3rd umpire for a caught behind appeal. Dhoni and Karthik have a few words. The decision in out. Karthik's cameo ends for 26 off 11 balls.
Narines comes in with 2 balls left. Rana on strike for the final ball. A mix-up at the ropes gives KKR a four to finish. They score 171/6.
Chahar's final over ends up being expensive. Nitish Rana finally gets to the boundary and gets consecutive ones - the second lofted over covers. Hussey said KKR were targetting 170 as their total. They need 15 runs per over in the last 2 overs to get there now. Karthik on strike. Carts Curran down the leg side for a six to start the 19th over. Curran proving to be expensive, his slower balls not working out.
KKR 150/5 after 18.2
KKR
Russell looks ominous as the last phase of the KKR innings comes up. Chahar comes back to bowl at the death. Executes a perfect yorker against Russell. Rana struggles to play Chahar, who gives away just 3 runs in the 16th over.
Shardul strikes in the 17th! What a moment! Russell drags one down to his stumps, goes for 20. Shardul gets CSK a big wicket. DK comes in at 7.
KKR 125/5 after 16.4
Russell takes a few balls to settle down and then launches an attack on Sam Curran - 4, 4, 6 - in the 15th over.
KKR 118/4 after 15
KKR send in Nitish Rana at 5, Russell still waits in the Dugout, as does Karthik. Rana sees himself in, batting at run-a-ball. Tripathi nears his 50, but now falls to Jadeja's pace variation. Gone for 45. Only 39 runs have come in the last 7 overs. A comedown after the brisk start by the top order.
KKR 89/4 after 12.2
Morgan gets off to a scratchy start, none of his shots having too much timing. Tripathi doing the lion's share of the swinging for the fences as Shardul and Jadeja keep things tight.
Morgan tries to go down the ground as play restarts after a Timeout. And Faf du Plessis does what he does best, takes a catch on the ropes. Morgan out for 8.
KKR 70/3 after 9.1
A cat-and-mouse game eventually weighed heavy on Subhman Gill. The Kolkata Knight Riders opener targeted the extra cover and mid-off region against Deepak Chahar, but MS Dhoni was one step ahead. In the mid-day desert heat, Chahar barely had any swing to his assistance, a breeze notwithstanding. Dhoni took out second slip after the very first ball and put Moeen Ali at short extra cover.
Gill accepted the challenge. He danced down the track and cleared Faf du Plessis at mid-off. Then he drove uppishly past Moeen for another four. Chahar responded with an incutter and trapped Gill in front. DRS overturned the on-field LBW decision and Gill looked relieved, but Dhoni's game was putting him under pressure.
Rotating the strike was a good option, but he erred in his judgement. A 36-year-old Ambati Rayudu knocking down the stumps with a direct hit from mid-wicket added to his misery. Gill returned to the dug-out disappointed.
Venkatesh Iyer now gone. This time Shardul Thakur the man who claims the wicket as Dhoni takes the catch. Iyer, surprisingly, takes a Review. He did nick it though. The 2nd wicket falls. Morgan comes in at 4.
KKR 50/2 after 5.1
Sam Curran now strikes. A great catch from MS Dhoni as Tripathi nicks through a bouncer. Or does he? The umpires ask the batsman to wait though. What a tragedy for CSK! It's a no ball for height...it was the 2nd bouncer of the over. CSK thought they had a wicket, not only do they not, there's now a Free Hit for Tripathi. Six of the Free Hit!
KKR 40/1 after 4
An eventful first over - Deepak Chahar to Shubman Gill - sees the KKR opener hit two consecutive fours, get adjudged LBW, reverse the decision, and then get run out. Gill takes a leaf out of Iyer's slam-bang book but falls for 9. Rohan Tripathi and Iyer now together at the crease.
KKR 19/1 after 2
Eoin Morgan: We are going to bat first, we don't have any changes. Will be a different challenge as it's a day game. There's more pace in the wicket as compared to the last year. In this sort of heat, it might get slower later.
MS Dhoni: We have one change, Curran comes in for Bravo. He had a few niggles in the CPL, so we need to make sure he doesn't develop them further. The support staff is very important. Having experienced players in the side helps. In IPL it's about managing the combinations.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prasidh Krishna