IPL 2021: Match 38, CSK vs KKR – Who Said What

Chennai Super Kings completed a hat-trick of victories in the UAE leg, ending victorious by two wickets in a tense chase against Kolkata Knight Riders to put a stamp on their playoff qualification, as they reclaimed the top spot in the table, tied on 16 points with Delhi Capitals.

After being asked to bowl, CSK bowlers restricted KKR to 171/6, with Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood scalping two wickets each. After two consecutive promising starts, KKR openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer were undone quick and cheaply, with the former being run-out for 9 off 5 just a delivery after he had successfully reviewed an LBW shout.

Being at his sensational best upfront, Thakur sent back Iyer for a 15-ball 18 in a wicket-maiden over before Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan stopped the rut. KKR managed to get a fair bit of partnerships for each wicket that followed, with Tripathi scoring 45 off 33 alongside Nitish Rana, who finished unbeaten 37 off 27. However, the real impetus to the KKR innings was given by Andre Russell (20 off 15) before the late cameo of Dinesh Karthik, who struck three fours and a six in his 11-ball 26.

Set 172 for the win, CSK cruised through the initial phase once again courtesy of a 74-run stand between openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (40 off 28) and Faf du Plessis (43 off 30). Things were right on track with MS Dhoni’s men even as KKR kept chipping with regular wickets after their solid start. Moeen Ali scored a well-paced 32 but CSK found itself in a hole with Ambati Rayudu being dismissed cheaply soon before Suresh Raina ran himself out. When Varun Chakravarthy cleaned up MS Dhoni, the cruising chase was suddenly derailed.

After a series of twists, showing for the umpteenth time why he is arguably the world’s finest all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja eased all the pressure, dispatching Prasidh Krishna 6,6,4,4 in the penultimate over. The assault did bring the equation down to 4 needed off last over from 25 needed off 10, but there was more drama in store, with Sunil Narine, who bagged 3/41, bowling a couple of dot balls before ending Jadeja’s 8-ball 22. Deepak Chahar managed to sneak a single needed off the last ball to extend CSK’s winning spree to three.

Losing skipper Eoin Morgan:

Both sides batted well. Both bowled really well. Can’t fault anything from our side. The second half of the tournament has been a lot of positives for our side. We just have to give ourselves the best chance. [On Prasidh for the 19th over] Sunil takes the responsibility. I hope Dre [Russell] is ok. The whole tournament has an abundance of top-class international circketers. Some of the local Indian guys haven’t even been capped yet. When Jadeja plays like that, similar to Sam Curran for England, I don’t think there’s a lot to do. [On holding back Varun Chakravarthy] All about matchups. Your bowlers need to bowl well enough to do that

Winning skipper MS Dhoni:

It’s a nice victory to have. At times you play good cricket and you lose. It is enjoyable when you don’t do so well and still win. It was good cricket from both sides, and a pleasure for the spectators. We bowled well in patches. It’s not easy for the fast bowlers. We tried to give them short spells. 170 was a par score, I felt. When Jadeja was bowling, it was coming on and not stopping. The way we started, KKR deserve some applause for making a game out of it. We were also worried about how the wicket will be. When you keep playing on a wicket, groundsmen sometimes water it more and leave some more grass. [On six wins in a row in UAE] The important thing was to make the most of what we had learnt and to come back stronger.

Player of the Match Ravindra Jadeja:

It is difficult. After you have played five-day cricket and then to come to white-ball cricket, I was working on my bat swing. I wanted to repeat whatever I was doing. The runs in the second-last over turned out to be the match-winning over for us. But Rutu and Faf gave us a good start. You need to be collective as a unit, whether with bat or ball. I was just backing my strength. He was bowling with fine leg and square leg up. I thought he would bowl full outside off, and slow short ball. I thought he would give one ball up, and luckily I connected well.