Kolkata Knight Riders have had their fair share of struggles in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), and weren’t exactly counted among the teams likely to reach the playoffs up until Sunday.
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Their performance against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the evening game of the Sunday double-header however, suggests this outfit might just prove their doubters wrong, and huff and puff their way through the knockouts after all.
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KKR, after all, had been languishing in the bottom half of the points table along with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals (DC) for the better part of the season plagued with issues both in their batting and bowling lineups.
While DC already are out of the playoffs race and SRH are more than likely to join that list, KKR managed to detach themselves from the bottom half of the table with a six-wicket victory against the second-ranked CSK in Chennai, a venue where they had not won since their triumph in the 2012 final for their maiden title.
And the manner in which they out-batted and out-bowled Dhoni and Co at Chepauk was reminiscent of the way the Gautam Gambhir-led side used to operate during its glory days.
Spinners dominate Chennai batters
Though not as tough a wicket as Lucknow, the Chepauk wicket certainly has been one where batters have had to earn their runs this season and the slower bowlers consistently found some help. When Dhoni opted to bat after winning the toss, he certainly would have backed his side to mount a competitive total in the range of 180 against a bowling unit that had appeared collectively wayward for the most part over the last one month.
And Chennai did get off to a promising start, reaching 52/1 at the end of the powerplay with Ruturaj Gaikwad dismissal of Varun Chakravarthy being the only hiccup. Skipper Nitish Rana’s decision to introduce Sunil Narine after the powerplay however, started off a slowdown for CSK with the veteran off-spinner starting off on a tidy note by giving away just five singles.
Chakravarthy, who went for 12 in his opening over, continued to build pressure by conceding just four runs in five deliveries, which led to a rash shot from Ajinkya Rahane off the last ball that resulted in a budding partnership getting snapped, and the Tamil Nadu spinner getting a second wicket.
From 52 in the first six overs, Chennai could collect just 16 in the next four while losing two wickets, with Shardul Thakur getting rid of a set Devon Conway in the 10th over. But the real game-changer was Narine’s third over, in which the West Indian castled Ambati Rayudu and Moeen Ali with two magical deliveries to further push Chennai on the backfoot.
Watch: Narine castles Rayudu, Moeen in one superb over during CSK-KKR clash
Narine would then concede just two off his final over to sign off with figures of 2/15 from four, a performance that was reminiscent of the days when he was at his peak and played a key role in transforming the Knight Riders into the force that they became.
Rana, Rinku to the rescue again
Chennai were always playing catch-up after the slowdown in the middle overs, and failed to go past the 150-mark despite Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 48 that contained three maximums. A target of 145 wasn’t a very intimidating one and all that Kolkata needed were a couple of big partnerships to chase it down and go one-all with Chennai this season.
Powerplay specialist Deepak Chahar, though, once again made optimal use of the new ball as he ran through the Kolkata top-order like a hot knife through butter, grabbing three wickets to reduce the visiting team to 33/3 in the fifth over. KKR had fiddled with their opening combo a number of times throughout this season, and the Jason Roy-Rahmanullah Gurbaz pair failed to fire for a third time in four games.
Kolkata’s strength as far as their batting order is concerned, however, lies in their middle order, which once again came to their rescue on Sunday with skipper Rana and Rinku Singh bringing KKR back on its feet and taking the attack to Chennai with a 99-run fourth-wicket stand.
Read | ‘Dew made a big difference,’ says MS Dhoni after KKR defeat CSK
Both Rana and Rinku slammed well-crafted half-centuries, staying cautious for the most part before teeing off in the second half of their innings, and by the time Rinku departed after bringing up his half-century, the game was done and dusted and a KKR victory appeared a mere formality.
Kolkata have a few days off now, and will not be in action again until Saturday, when they take on Lucknow Super Giants in what is the final match of the season at the Eden Gardens. And though a victory over LSG might not necessarily guarantee them a top-four finish given other results will also play a factor in them escaping the mid-table scrum, Rana and Co will have derived enough inspiration from this performance to give their absolute best in their final league outing of the season.
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