Chennai Super Kings’ big total set up by century stand between openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad
Chennai Super Kings 220 for 3 (du Plessis 95, Gaikwad 64) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 202 (Cummins 66*, Russell 54, Chahar 4-29, Ngidi 3-28) by 18 runs
They had a much-maligned opener come back to form spectacularly. They had their other opener power to 95 not out. They had a total of 220 for 3, and then they had the opposition 31 for 5 inside the powerplay. Then the Chennai Super Kings ran into not just Andre Russell at his ball-smashing best, but Pat Cummins morphing into Dre 2.0, as the Kolkata Knight Riders kept hammering away at the target despite the seeming hopelessness of their cause. The Super Kings had to contend with a match they thought they had sewn up bursting open once again. But, in the end, they got past the finish line, winning by 18 runs in the final over.
Russell hit a 21-ball fifty, coming in at five down in 5.2 overs. Cummins walked in when Russell was out, saw Dinesh Karthik fall too, and then reeled off a 23-ball fifty. But in the end, the Super Kings had put up too many runs and taken too many wickets up front, as a valiant chase ended with the Knight Riders 202 all out in 19.1 overs. Cummins was unconquered on 66 and the last two wickets were run-outs with Cummins trying to retain strike.
The Wankhede Stadium’s status as a batting haven was restored in some style, as a succession of batsmen teed off against the bowling, in a match in which 26 sixes were hit. Deepak Chahar‘s powerplay heroics, which left the Knight Riders in tatters, almost became a footnote, as did his excellent figures of 4 for 29 – until he effected those two run-outs at the end.
The Super Kings were driven to their total by fifties from Ruturaj Gaikwad (64 off 42) and Faf du Plessis (95* off 60) and, at the innings break, they must have thought they had enough even if the dew arrived. By the last over of the Knight Riders’ powerplay, they would have thought it was just a matter of time, and the nerdier ones among them would have been calculating the expected net run-rate boost. Few could have foreseen the sort of blistering comeback that the Knight Riders mounted, but, eventually, the Super Kings had collectively done just enough.
Full report to follow…
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo