IPL SRL | CSK vs KKR Evaluation Chart - Shardul Thakur’s four-fer seals victory for Chennai

Match Review

You can check out the scorecard and Match Tracker here.

Chennai required 60 runs off the last five overs to win the game and the KKR bowlers did a good job in the first two overs in the deaths by checking the runs and getting rid of Jadeja who was looking in good touch. However, the following over by Prasidh Krishna turned out to be the game changer as he conceded 13 runs off it and turned the game in favour of CSK who still had the services of Jadhav to count on.

Highs and Lows 

Kedar Jadhav, who helped CSK successfully pull off the chase with his unbeaten 16-ball 33, got only one over in the game. It was the 13th over in KKR’s innings and he conceded only five runs while bagging an important wicket of Dinesh Karthik. However, he was not asked to bowl again. The misuse of Jadhav by his captain Dhoni was perhaps a low in the game despite CSK’s win. 

Rating Charts

As Kolkata batted first, the opening partnership between Shubhman Gill and Sunil Narine started off slow until the latter charged four consecutive fours in the third over, off Deepak Chahar. Meanwhile, Gill opened his account in boundaries in the next over, off Shardul Thakur but was dismissed in the same over. Following that, spin was called in the form of Imran Tahir and Nitish Rana(2 off 5) was shown off in the fifth over. To conclude the Powerplay, Chahar returned for the third over of his spell while Narine kept on displaying an unperturbed batting performance, taking KKR to a total of 42/2 at the end of six overs.

On the other hand, chasing a target of 163, Chennai lost Watson in the fifth over after a slow start in the Powerplay. Meanwhile, it was Faf du Plessis who kept the run rate up to a decent level. However, Chennai soon lost Raina as well in the sixth over and the upper hand was given to Kolkata Knight Riders as CSK only managed to put up a total of 33/2 at the end of the first six overs. 

KKR skipper Eoin Morgan launched a SIX, off Dwyane Bravo, to kick off the middle overs. However, just a couple of deliveries after, the wicket of Narine meant bad news for KKR while Karthik joined Morgan in the middle. The two KKR captains took it slow to be building a steady partnership, after the few hiccups, amid spin duo of Tahir-Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. The recovery was slow et steady and the 12th over, bowled by Jadeja saw Karthik in good touch and KKR squeezed out 12 runs of it. But soon the partnership was broken in the next over, by Kedar Jadhav, as Karthik was shown off and soon followed the biggest shock for KKR as power-hitter Andre Russell was uprooted early by Jadeja in the 14th over. However, the new batsman in Rahul Tripathi launched a four and six to start off his innings. The same energy followed in the 15th over, taking KKR to a total of 117/5.

Following a mediocre show in the Powerplay, CSK moved forward steadily with Faf du Plessis sailing the ship until another setback struck them as they lost the South African in the tenth over, bowled by Andre Russell. The Windies power-hitter was uprooted early in today’s game but he made up for it with the ball as having taken care of the CSK batting through the middle overs, the testimony to which was his bowling figures of 3-0-18-3. At the end of 15 overs, CSK still required 60 runs to win, the scoreboard read 102/5.

After restricting the runs significantly in the middle overs, KKR had to pull up their socks in the death overs. The bowling wasn’t as strict as the preceding overs but CSK had the batsmen fairly in check after having the score at 117/5 at the end of 15 overs. Bravo and Shardul Thakur returned after their brilliant spells and channelled that energy in the death overs as well. At the end of 20 overs, KKR managed a fairly total of 162/8 with Morgan top-scoring with a 50. 

With 60 runs to chase in the final five overs, CSK had the experience of Jadhav and Jadeja to count on. However, the latter was shown off with the commencement of the death overs and the responsibility of the chase fell on Jadhav alone. KKR bowlers had an easier job to do with 60 runs to defend and four wickets to bag. However, going forward they could only get rid of Bravo and the rest of the deed was done by Jadhav and Cummins as CSK sealed the game in the 20th over with three wickets in hand.

It was a well-fought game with exceptional bowling performances by Russell and Thakur. Apart from that, it was Morgan and Jadhav who kept the batting alive on a day when the bowlers fairly dominated the game. It wasn’t an extraordinary game of T20 but it was above average in all its elements.