CSK vs KKR | Player Ratings - Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh shine as Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets
For Chennai Super Kings, Chepauk stood tall to witness another victory as Deepak Chahar and spinners’ collective effort restricted Kolkata to just 108. Faf du Plessis played a measured innings for the hosts and ensured that MS Dhoni’s team didn’t lose the way on the face of a small run-chase.
Shane Watson (4/10): The low target engulfed his mind from the outset and the ambition to finish things off fast resulted in having him caught in two minds against Sunil Narine. The struggle to choose whether to go uppishly or keep it along the floor was so evident that he ended up mixing his options and dragged one to Piyush Chawla at square leg.
Faf du Plessis (8/10): Faf didn’t get enough chances to take the strike in the powerplay, with Shane Watson and Suresh Raina mostly taking the KKR bowlers down, but the South African skipper’s innings was a composed one. This is where experience comes into play and Faf perfectly justifies that with his 43-run knock.
Suresh Raina (4/10): Not the kind of cricket the team would’ve wanted from him, especially when the ball was low and slow. Raina needed to be there, with Faf du Plessis, but the unrequited hurriedness ended his stay in the middle after contributing 13 runs off 14 balls. The way he was dismissed was further indication that he relied heavily on MS Dhoni to deliver tonight, instead of taking the punt of being there for long.
Ambati Rayudu (5/10): There was a low score to achieve and he took the cautious way out to score in the company of Faf du Plessis. While his shot selection was bereft of any confidence, his run-scoring areas were mostly behind the square which is indicative of the fact that he was not trying too hard to assert himself on the crease.
Kedar Jadhav (6/10): An eight-ball eight to finish things off, and a catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa was the moment of shine for Kedar Jadhav tonight. This, in no way, was a tiny effort considering the very fragileness of the run-chases in the IPL lately.
MS Dhoni (6/10): Didn’t get to bat but MSD was brilliant as usual behind the stumps and with his tactics. The CSK skipper
Ravindra Jadeja (8/10): Jadeja was brilliant with the ball, picking up one wicket by conceding just 16 runs, but it was because of the fielding I would rate him an eight tonight. Although I was kind of lazy and didn’t count how many runs did he actually save at deep, it must be a substantial number. His bowling anyway did the job.
Scott Kuggeleijn (5/10): The Kiwi was the only bowler who couldn’t match up to the standard of his other bowling mates tonight, majorly because he bowled in the death and that to Andre Russell. His inswingers were
Deepak Chahar (9/10): Although it was mostly down to Kolkata players inability to judge the situation and terrible shot selection, let’s not take anything away from Deepak Chahar. The Jaipur pacer, with the deceptive pace being his primary calling card, did play his part to perception. Giving away only six runs in the last over, even though he is primarily a new ball bowler, is worth applauding.
Harbhajan Singh (8.5/10): 2/15 in four overs, and the dangerous Sunil Narine wicket to go with that. Trust Chennai Super Kings to make a mockery of the match-ups. Without doing anything more, Harbhajan just kept his length perfect and with the ball coming slowly to the bat, the off-spinner ended up having one more wicket next to his name. Brilliant!
Imran Tahir (8.5/10): He is a bundle of joy and the happiness he brings to the table is so uncluttered that would make you his fan overnight. Amidst that, Tahir produces some of the best T20 performances, and this IPL has seen his coming
