Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs in match 21 in IPL 2020 in Abu Dhabi. In the process, KKR moved up to number three in the points table, while CSK stayed at the bottom, with problems mounting for the franchise.
This was just the eighth win for Kolkata over Chennai in the 13 seasons of the tournament.CSK went down from 90 for 1 in 10 overs to 157 for 5 after their allotted 20 overs to lose the game by 10 runs. This was another disappointing outing for the Men in Yellow.
Here are the 5 talking points from the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings contest, which was closer than it looked:
1. KKR Spinners Choke CSK Power-Hitters At the Death
The Kolkata Knight Riders spinners Varun Chakravarty and Sunil Narine choked the CSK power-hitters from hitting big shots in the final overs. MS Dhoni was dismissed rather courageously by Varun after he was hit for a boundary. MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav scored 11 and 7 from 12 deliveries each.
Between overs 11 to 19 Chennai Super Kings failed to hit boundaries barring the 16th over where KKR gave away 16 runs. Andre Russell’s short-pitch deliveries were too good at the end for Sam Curran who was dismissed for 17.
With 26 needed off the final overs, Jadeja finished with 6,4,4 but by the time it was to little too late for the Men in Yellow.
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2. KKR Spinners Control Middle-Overs
The KKR spinners choked the CSK power-hitters in the back 10 overs of their chase. Chennai Super Kings were well placed at 90 for in the first 10 overs but failed to accelerate in the back 10. Kolkata Knight Riders spinners Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine bowled tight lines and prevented the opposition batsmen from hitting boundaries.
Both spinners did exceptionally well as Chennai Super Kings only managed to score 14 runs between overs 11 to 15.
3. KKR’s Plan to Hold Sunil Narine Back
Kolkata Knight Riders’ plan to hold Sunil Narine back was a tactical one. He was held back for the Chennai Super Kings power-hitters. Narine was introduced in the 13th over and he dismissed Watson instantly.
Watson was well set on 50 but failed to judge the line of the delivery from the KKR mystery spinner. He returned with figures of 1 for 31 breaking the game open for Kolkata by dismissing Watson.
4. Question Remains Over KKR Middle-Order
Eoin Morgan (7), Andre Russell (2) and Dinesh Karthik (12), the much-famed Kolkata Knight Riders trio failed to perform in yet another match for the Knights. Russell’s problem against short-pitch deliveries was well-read by the opposition bowlers.
While for Morgan and Karthik, the team is missing the consistency which is expected of them being senior players in the side. With the tournament intensifying with every passing game and the sides, giving it their all, the trio needs to come up with consistent and decisive performances. Also, the search for the perfect batting number within the trio is still on.
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5. Chennai Super Kings Batters Let Their Bowlers Down
The inability of the batsmen to get them over the line in this game was the same sentiment that echoed from both MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming at the post-match interactions. The team is making a habit of losing games from having an upper-hand in the contests.
Going forward, this is an issue which the management will address with still enough time left for a turn-around from the Dad’s Army.
Also Read: Disappointed To Let It Slip – Stephen Fleming After Loss to KKR