IPL 2018: Match 5, CSK vs KKR - Who Said What

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), What a team! What a captain! What kind of match-winning players! They came out to play at their fortress after 1065 days and for most parts, it looked like they won’t be winning the match but Sam Billings, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja combined together until the last over and once again won the nail-biting thriller for their side. Though the chase of 203 was set up by Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu at the top only to be taken over by Billings who smashed 56 off 23 deliveries.

However, after losing the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got off to a decent start but lost their way until the 10th over as the scorecard read 89/5. But the skipper Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell resurrected the innings before the latter just brutally got going. it was just impossible to stop him as he continued to smash all the bowlers out of the ground. Though the shot he hit off the second delivery of the 17th over to Dwayne Bravo was the best of the day as it went out of the Stadium.

He smoked 88 off just 36 balls and scored 11 sixes in it which was absolutely unreal on the back of which KKR posted 202 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. The chase for CSK was also a special one as the openers Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu added 75 runs for the first wicket. However, when the game was going away for the Sam Billings arrived to the scene and played a dream of a knock and he too played the shot of the day.

The ramp shot off Russell in the 18th over of the chase was really game-changing as that brought the equation down to 27 off last two overs. Though he got out in the penultimate over, it was Bravo who hit the beamer for a six in the last over when they needed 17 off the last over. Jadeja, however, played a Jadhavesque knock, short but match-winning, by hitting a six when CSK needed 4 off last 2 balls only to set the Stadium roaring and how!

Man of the Match, Sam Billings said:

It was an absolute pressure to play in a team of legends. That is the great thing about the IPL. You have the opportunity to learn from Hussey; the batting coach as well. You know your options in your head, plan A, plan B and plan C, but you need to believe in yourself and execute.

Thankfully it was my day and it was a lot of fun. We showed in the first game with Bravo, in T20 cricket, you need to take it deep. We have lots of power in our batting line-up and we know as a team any target can be breached.

Winning captain, MS Dhoni said:

It feels good to come back after two years and win the first game. I think it was a fantastic game. They deserved every bit of it; the first innings and the second innings. Everyone has their emotions and we tell everybody to keep it under control. We need to have the faith in the batsman who is batting or the bowler who is bowling.

At the end of the day, there is one man to bat that particular delivery and bowl that particular over. Lot of positive energy helps. It does. At times you feel disappointed, but that’s why the dressing room is there to express yourself and not in the dugout.

We all feel the same. If we are too expresseive, the commentators get a lot to talk about. Yes. But every game one player is getting injured. By that calculation we will not have 14 players at the end of the league other than that it is good to see Sam bat the way he did.

Somehow still feel that KKR scored more than us because with all those sixes. IPL should add two more runs for sixes hit out of the ground. Bowlers had a rough dayfrom both the sides, but overall it was a good day for the crowd over here.

Losing captain, Dinesh Karthik said:

CSK is coming back after two years and we were expecting that (support). Hats off to them. They played a good game. Hats of to Andre. He put is in a great position. These things happen in T20 cricket. You gotta keep your chin up and keep moving forward.

In T20s, you are going to lose some games. It’s important to take the positives. In the next games, we shouldn’t repeat the same mistakes. We are playing SRH at home; two good teams and it’s going to be a good match for sure.