Chennai Super Kings are losing their shine and pride in this IPL season at their home. They were made to settle for a par score on a slow pitch at Chepauk by Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling attack. CSK now face a though way towards IPLplayoffs. KKR bowlers built up pressure on the Super Kings batsmen won them some crucial wickets, leaving the visitors’ in-form batting line-up, led by their captain Gautam Gambhir, a target they’ll back themselves to chase down. Gambhir shuffled his spinners at one end and stuck to Brett Lee at the other during the start after Super Kings chose to bat. Michael Hussey, back from the tour of the Caribbean, was not at his most convincing on a turning track but did dispatch the spinners for two boundaries. However, he was a victim of some miscommunication and excellent fielding from Lee which led to his run out.
IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders win at fortress Chennai Super Kings
The spin pair of Abdulla and Sunil Narine, together with Rajat Bhatia’s dibbly-dobblies, restrained the hosts further, doing their bit to produce a boundary-drought of 47 deliveries. However, stepping up proved a difficult job. But MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel squeezed 21 off the final two overs, courtesy some cheeky batting and some quick running, to give Super Kings a bit more cushion. Chennai Super Kings struggled to reach 139 for 5 on a slow and dry pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium against Kolkata Knight Riders. None of the homeside batsmen could play any explosive knock and the runs only came mostly through ones and twos.
Gambhir’s dream run in the ongoing Indian Premium League continued as he slammed a quickfire 43-ball fifty with the help of four boundaries and a six. Gambhir’s fine innings came to an end in the 18th over when he was dismissed by Chennai’s Dwayne Bravo. CSK’s Dwayne Bravo broke the 70-run second wicket stand between Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir. Bravo removed Kallis to give Chennai much-needed breakthrough when the batsman was caught behind the wickets by skipper MS Dhoni.
Gambhir and Kallis take Kolkata Knight Riders past 50 runs after losing Brendon McCullum early against Chennai. The duo also reached to their 50 runs stand in 38 balls to steady Knight Riders’ chase. Chennai’s Ravichandran Ashwin struck to dismiss Brendon McCullum and give Kolkata Knight Riders early blow in chase of 140. Kolkata Knight Riders just managed to defeat hosts CSK by 5 wickets with the match going into the final over despite the target being just 140. Skipper Gautam Gambhir led the way for KKR with a solid 63 from 52 balls (with 6 fours and a six).
Tags: Chennai Super Kings, Cricket, CSK, Gautam Gambhir, IPL, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders
