Chennai Super Kings 141 for 3 (Gaikwad 67, Arora 2-28) win Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 9 (Iyer 34, Jadeja 3-18, Deshpande 3-33, Mustafizur 2-22) with seven wickets
After two back-to-back defeats on the road, Chennai Super Kings returned to home comforts and wins, handing Kolkata Knight Riders their first defeat in IPL 2024.
With three to win, on MS Dhoni, causing bedlam in the Chepauk stands. But it was Gaikwad who suitably completed the chase by crashing Anukul Roy through covers.
Welcome Gaikwad back to form
It hasn’t been the strongest start for Gaikwad in IPL 2024. Coming into the game, he had just 88 runs in four innings, averaging 22 in the tournament. But with a modest goal in front of him, he bedded down for the long haul. After a cautious first over, he started with a ramp from Vaibhav Arora and moved from 4 off 9 to 32 off 23 by the end of the powerplay.
The early impetus came from Rachin Ravindra chasing Mitchell Starc, but once he fell, Gaikwad made sure to keep things going. With Ajinkya Rahane struggling with a calf strain, he had an extra responsibility and handled the role well.
Gaikwad took on Anukul Roy’s left-arm spin, removing the first ball of the fifth over and creaming him through the covers. He repeated those shots twice before smashing Vaibhav Arora for two back-to-back fours. CSK had struggled to 52 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
CSK make it 3/3 at home
Gaikwad got excellent support from Mitchell and Dube helping CSK get over the line. Mitchell, moved up the order to No.3, hit his straps by hitting Sunil Narine for a six and a four straight after the powerplay. The duo didn’t always keep the boundaries but kept the scoreboard. In the 36 balls between overs six to 12, they scored 44 runs – 17 singles, five doubles, two fours and a six – and that was all CSK needed as the run rate they were asking for fell below the six mark and in favor.
Sunil Narine – the king of the powerplay
After losing the toss and a wicket off the first ball of the game, KKR were supported by Sunil Narine, their powerplay star this season. He went behind Tushar Deshpande in his second over. A square leg, one over middle and then a six over deep square – Narine was up and away. Not even a shoulder injury seemed to stop him.
The slowdown is courtesy of Ravindra Jadeja
CSK’s spinners had not taken a single wicket at Chepauk in the first two matches there in IPL 2024. And Jadeja seemed to be taking it personally. He took three wickets in his first eight balls of the match, putting a big dent in the KKR middle order.
First he sent back Raghuvanshi, who was ready for a reverse sweep, missed and was caught right in front. He then dismissed Narine for the fourth time in five T20 innings, with the batsman cutting a length ball straight to long off. Venkatesh Iyer was Jadeja’s third victim who hit deep midwicket with Mitchell taking a good dive forward. Normally Jadeja’s plan in these conditions is to be as accurate as possible. Here he knew he had to do something else. Not a full bowl. Let the natural variation that this pitch offered do its thing.
After scoring 56 in the first six overs, KKR managed only 43 in the next nine, losing four wickets in the process.
The fast goes slow
Just after 15 overs, Gaikwad brought in the fast bowlers and they relied more on the cutters. Deshpande had Rinku Singh cut one back onto his stumps before Mustafizur Rahman took over. He may have been coming off a long course, but he had slower cutters that would make any slow left-arm orthodox spinner proud.
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo