Xtra Time Web Desk: The cricket-loving people were amazed by the 22-yard pitch of the T20 match. There was hardly anything for the batters. Right from the beginning, the ball was stopping on the bat. Both teams had to score enough runs with their batters. Kolkata Knight Riders lost the toss and scored 137 runs for 9 wickets in their first innings. In response, Chennai Super Kings scored 141 runs for 3 wickets in 17.4 overs.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni couldn’t fight back. Without Sunil Narine and Ankush Raghuvanshi, KKR couldn’t find any batter in the mood for T20 cricket. Tushar Deshpande got Phil Salt out on the first ball (zero). Narine-Raghuvanshi managed to score 56 runs for the second wicket. After breaking this partnership, KKR’s innings stumbled. Everyone seemed uncomfortable facing the balls of Ravindra Jadeja and Mustafizur Rahman. Shreyas Iyer reached the field as if to fight the pressure.
Read More: IPL 2024: Chennai silenced as MS Dhoni drops dangerous Andre Russell’s catch, video gone viral
In the seventh over of Kolkata’s innings, Jadeja came to bowl and made big hits. He dismissed Raghuvanshi and Narine in three balls. As a result, Kolkata went from 56 for 1 wicket to 60 for 3 wickets. Narine scored 27 off 20 balls. He hit 3 fours and 2 sixes. Raghuvanshi came out of the bat for 24 off 18 balls. He hit 3 fours and 1 six. Despite this pressure, KKR couldn’t handle the innings. Then Bankesher Ayer (3), Ramandeep Singh (13), Rinku Singh (9), and Andre Russell (10) failed. Stark’s contribution to the bat was zero.
Shreyas fought alone. He scored 34 off 32 balls with the help of 3 fours. Till the end, Anukul Roy (3) and Vaibhav Arora (1) were at 22 yards. Without the second-wicket partnership, KKR couldn’t make any big runs. Shreyas’s innings ended with 11 fours and 4 sixes.
According to the pitch’s nature, Chennai’s bowlers spoke. Jadeja took 3 wickets, giving away 18 runs. Tushar took 3 wickets for 33 runs. Mustafizur shone in the last over. In the 20th over, KKR took 2 runs. Mahish Thikshanar took 1 wicket for 1 run at 28 runs.
Read More: IPL 2024: Dinesh Karthik points out hypocrisy of RCB’s loyal fanbase
With a target of 138 runs for victory, Chennai started their innings with enthusiasm. However, Stark’s directionless performance helped increase Chennai’s innings’ run rate. Going aggressive, Vaibhav lost his wicket to Rachine Ravindra. He came out of the bat for 15 runs off 8 balls. He hit 3 fours. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai’s captain, played the responsible innings from the bat. He was accompanied by Daryl Mitchell. They batted confidently in the second wicket partnership. Anukul Roy couldn’t make any impact as KKR’s impact player on the 22-yard pitch. Shreyas couldn’t utilize him for more than 1 over. KKR’s other bowlers couldn’t create problems either. Mitchell was out, breaking the second wicket partnership for Chennai. He scored 25 runs off 19 balls. He hit one four and one six. Before him, he formed a crucial partnership of 70 runs with Ruturaj. Playing the role of the innings’ run leader with leadership from the front, Ruturaj made 28 runs off 18 balls. He hit one four and three sixes.
Among Kolkata’s bowlers, Stark took 3 overs and gave 29 runs. Varun Chakraborty gave 26 runs. Anukul gave 12 runs in 1 over. Narine took 1 wicket for 30 runs. Vaibhav took 2 wickets for 28 runs, the most successful being Vaibhav, who took 2 wickets for 28 runs.