KKR vs CSK | Player Ratings - Andre Russell finally fails as Kolkata Knight Riders succumb to defeat against Chennai Super Kings

04/14/2019

Law of averages finally caught up with Andre Russell as after six consecutive 40+ scores, he was dismissed for 10 as Kolkata Knight Riders suffered their fourth loss of the season. The loss can also be attributed to the pacers lacking penetration ability and going defensive from the very beginning.

Sunil Narine (6/10): It is the spinners whom Sunil Narine targets, but not against CSK. Despite the match-ups showing otherwise, MS Dhoni deployed a spinner against the Carribbean once again, and remained successful for the second consecutive time as Mitchell Santner dismissed him for 2. His bowling, however, was top notch and once he bowled a wicket-maiden, CSK were strangled and seemed to have lost the way in the middle-overs.

Chris Lynn (9/10): Form might be temporary but its departure can cause permanent infection. This threatened Lynn to have a long-term damage, but by scoring his second half-century this IPL, the Aussie brought back the memories of his glory days. During his 50-ball 82-run innings, there was a satisfying brutality that elicits an audible gasp from the passionate Kolkata crowd, like they've just witnessed something entertaining while reliving the old Satyajit Ray movies.

Nitish Rana (4/10): As we can laud the spectacle of Chris Lynn, a cursory glance at the KKR scorecards this season tells us something about the team’s overdependence on the top-order and Andre Russell. Nitish Rana was at the centre of it as after that couple of half-centuries, his bat has remained largely silent. Today, he wanted to up the ante, but didn't quite get hold of the lofted on-drive and was dismissed for 21.

Robin Uthappa (2/10): Tahir is having a day out in the middle and a person in the right frame of mind would happily dodge him for few deliveries at least. However, Uthappa decided to smash the conventional leg-break out of the park but ended up slicing across the line to get a thick edge that went high. Faf took a brilliant catch and with that brought a big question on Uthappa’s match temperament, which has been tested to the limit this IPL.

Dinesh Karthik (3/10): Ishan Bishop quipped on air, DK is a much better player than what he has allowed himself to be in his career and this can’t be farther from the truth. At times, it is soothing to see DK go about his work, but the way he threw away the wicket, even though the team needed him to be there for longer, talks about fragility - a tendency he wouldn’t be proud of.

Andre Russell (4/10): The man, who had six consecutive 40+ scores to his name, was dismissed for 10 and this was some effort by CSK. Russell, who was branded as Superman by host broadcasters, was at his elements though and hit a gorgeous four to mid-wicket to get going, and it is just that the law of averages didn’t allow him to carry on with that intensity.

Shubman Gill (3/10): If the match against Delhi Capitals was anything to go by, then Shubman Gill should’ve come out to open ahead of Chris Lynn. Dinesh Karthik would be thanking his stars that Lynn succeeded to give KKR a perfect beginning, and for no fault of his, Gill had to endure a tough trial by spin. Managed to score 15 off 20 and failed to guide the team to a good total.

Piyush Chawla (8/10): Piyush Chawla is the medieval cult hero in modern times. Well, if that is a stretch for you, then you are surely not a KKR fan. After he dismissed Amabti Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav, Chawla was in the collective consciousness of the KKR fans on Twitter and the ground suddenly erupted with chants of “Chawla, Chawla”. Did his job to perfection.

Kuldeep Yadav (3/10): The left-arm wrist-spinner has never been exceptional for Kolkata Knight Riders like a Piyush Chawla, but the sad thing for them is that the fortune is not changing even after he established himself as one of the world’s best spinners. Landing the ball on good length spot and imparting very little spin, Kuldeep dug his own grave and ended up conceding runs at 9.33.

Prasidh Krishna (4/10): The wicket column may have shown only two wickets from eight matches, but Prasidh Krishna is way better than that. Even today, he got the ball to move away from the batsman effortlessly, creating one edge off Suresh Raina. His pace is enticing, but if he can couple that up with few slower balls, who knows, he might render more effective for the team.

Harry Gurney (2/10): The slower-ball specialist bowled probably one of the worst death overs tonight. Despite knowing that Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina are good on their pads, he kept on targeting the pads and let the game slip from their fingers. Should learn a lesson from it and move on.