CSK rise to top with growing Theekshana, Pathirana

Indian Premier League 2023

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Chennai Super Kings made it three wins in a row and jumped to the top of the table by beating Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 33 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens.

Ajinkya Rahane’s whirlwind 71*(29), Shivam Dube’s blistering 50 (21) coupled with consistent Conway’s stylish 56 (40) powered CSK to a mammoth 235/4. A collective bowling effort saw the bowlers pick up regular wickets and restrict KKR to 186/8 to achieve a comprehensive win.

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Chasing 236, Kolkata Knight Riders were rocked early as opener Sunil Narine was cleaned up by CSK’s Impact Player Akash Singh without opening his account, off the fourth ball of the innings. N Jagadeesan departed in the second over as he sliced one to deep point where Jadeja pouched a very good sharp, low catch.

Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana then got together and steadied the ship. The duo hit two fours and a six each as KKR reached 38/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Akash Singh bowled four overs straight up and finished with impressive figures of 4-0-29-1. Dhoni then introduced Moeen Ali into the attack and he struck off his first ball, trapping Venkatesh Iyer LBW as he missed his slog sweep. Iyer reviewed it but the ball tracking system showed all three reds.

Jason Roy, who had injured himself while fielding, then came out all guns blazing hitting three consecutive sixes off Moeen Ali. But Ravindra Jadeja made an impact straightaway as he had Rana caught at deep mid-wicket after being hit for a four off the previous ball. KKR hobbled to 76/4 at the halfway mark.

Roy and Rinku Singh then pressed the accelerator button, hammering a couple of sixes and a four off Jadeja. Roy took on Theekshana in the next over hitting a six and a four to make it 33 from two overs.

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Roy brought up his fifty, off just 19 balls, with a slashed four to third man off Pathirana. Roy cracked a couple of fours off Theekshana but the Sri Lankan spinner bounced back hard to clean him up with a yorker on 61(26).

With the required run-rate touching almost 20 (99 required from 30) Rinku and Andre Russell went after Tushar Deshpande and took 19 off the over including two fours and a six.

Pathirana then got rid of Russell (9 off 6) as he mistimed one to deep mid-wicket of a slower ball. The Sri Lankan pacer bowled a brilliant over and gave away just eight including the wicket of Russell.

Rinku Singh tried to put up a fight, bringing up his fifty with a six, off Pathirana but the equation was out of his reach as well, as KKR fell short by 49 runs. Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 53 off 33 balls with four sixes and three fours.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana won the toss and elected to bowl. They made three changes to the side as David Wiese, N Jagadeesan and Suyash Sharma replaced Liton Das, Mandeep Singh and Venkatesh Iyer. They named Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Liton Das, Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh as their substitutes.

CSK made one change to the starting XI as Ambati Rayudu replaced Akash Singh. They named Akash Singh, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rashdeed and Rajvardhan Hangargekar as their substitutes.

The CSK openers got the team off to a steady start. Devon Conway was the aggressor in chief as he hit some well-timed attractive shots. He flicked one over deep square leg for a six off David Wiese and lofted another six straight down the ground off Varun Chakaravarthy. He cracked two more fours off Wiese and in-between Ruturaj Gaikwad hit a top-edged six off Umesh Yadav.

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The boundary flow continued as Conway and Gaikwad hit a four and a six respectively off Khejroliya to take CSK to 59/0 at the end of the Powerplay.

Gaikwad then played a couple of nicey placed shots for a four and a six. Nitish Sharma then brought Suyash Sharma into the attack and he finally broke the stand, cleaning up Ruturaj Gaikwad with a fast googly. Conway and Rahane got together and kept the scoreboard ticking as the former brought up his fourth fifty in a row, off 34 balls.

KKR clawed their way back into the match a little bit as after two relatively quiet overs, Charavarthy had the set Conway (56 off 40) caught at long off. The tide turned again as Shivam Dube got going straightaway as he hit a couple of sixes in the same over to take 14 off the over. Rahane then showed his class by flicking the first ball of Umesh Yadav’s comeback over for a six, scooping the next one for another six and then cracking a drive through covers for a four. Dube edged one wide of the keeper for a four, accumulating 22 runs from the over.

Dube and Rahane went on a stunning counter-attack and brought up the 50-run stand off just 16 balls. Rahane brought up his fifty off just 24 balls, pulling one to deep square leg for a four off Andre Russell. Dube brought up his half-century, off 20 balls, with a six off Khejroliya but he departed next ball, hitting one straight to long off. The momentum-changing partnership of 85 off just 32 balls was finally ended. Rahane though was unstoppable as he cracked a couple of sixes and a four off Chakaravarthy in the penultimate over and then Jadeja joined the party with two sixes in the last over from Khejroliya as CSK posted 235/4 from 20 overs. Ajinkya Rahane remained unbeaten on 71 off 29 with six fours and five sixes. KKR had earlier received a blow while fielding as Jason Roy had to walk off the field while trying to field a ball near the boundary line.

CSK introduced their Impact Player Akash Singh, replacing Ambati Rayudu, at the start of their bowling innings.

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