IPL 2020, CSK vs KKR: Ruturaj Gaikwad & Ravindra Jadeja shines as CSK beat KKR by 6 wickets
In the 49th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 6 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Ruturaj Gaikwad's brilliant knock of 72 runs off 53 balls, and Ravindra Jadeja's undefeated cameo of 31 runs helped CSK chase down the target of 173 runs given by the KKR tonight in a last-ball thriller. Ravindra Jadeja's match finishing six remains the highlight of tonight's match. Aided by Nitish Rana's impressive innings of 87 runs off 61 balls and a quick cameo by Dinesh Karthik, KKR gave a decent target of 173 runs for the CSK to chase tonight. With tonight's loss against Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders have lost a crucial match, which can cost them a place in the playoffs of the 13th edition of the IPL. Whereas, CSK, despite their win against KKR tonight, stays eliminated from the IPL 2020 for the first time since the series' conception. KKR continues to stand at the 5th position in the points table of the IPL 2020.
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. Kolkata Knight Riders had a good start aided by its openers tonight. While Shubhman Gill played an innings of 26 runs off 17 balls, Nitish Rana shined for the KKR tonight with his impressive innings of 87 runs off 61 balls aided by 4 sixes and 10 fours. After the fall of the wicket of Gill, Sunil Narine came to the crease but departed early after making just 7 runs tonight. Rinku Singh played slowly and lost his wicket after making 11 runs off 11 balls for the KKR tonight. Skipper Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik's last-minute push allowed KKR to set a decent target of 173 runs for the CSK to chase tonight. While Morgan lost his wicket after making 15 runs off 12 balls, Karthik played a quick cameo of undefeated 21 runs off 10 balls for the KKR tonight. Lungi Ngidi remained successful in grabbing 2 wickets for the CSK in his spell of 4 overs tonight. Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, and Karn Sharma also remained successful in taking a wicket each for the CSK in their respective spells tonight.
Chennai Super Kings had a rough start with the early wicket of Shane Watson tonight. Watson lost his wicket after making just 14 runs off 19 balls for the CSK tonight. After Watson's wicket, Ambati Rayudu joined opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and played a quick innings of 38 runs off 20 balls for the CSK tonight. While Gaikwad held his ground with the bat for the CSK, skipper MS Dhoni failed to aid any significant runs for the team as he lost his wicket after making just a single run tonight. After Dhoni's wicket, Sam Curran came to support the Gaikwad in the run chase against KKR tonight. However, Gaikwad lost his wicket after playing an impressive innings of 72 runs off 53 balls for the CSK tonight. With the help of an impressive partnership between Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja, CSK chased down the target of 173 runs given by the KKR tonight in the last ball of the final over. While Curran played with caution and remained undefeated with his knock of 13 runs off 14 balls, Jadeja played explosively with his brilliant yet undefeated knock of 31 runs off 11 balls aided by 3 sixes and 2 fours for the CSK tonight. Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy remained successful in grabbing 2 wickets each for the KKR tonight.
