CSK flex batting muscle against KKR to go top of the table

The Chennai Super Kings continued their winning momentum on Sunday night at the Eden Gardens as they comfortably beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs to jump to the top of the table. CSK’s menacing batting line-up came to the fore again versus KKR as the Men in Yellow posted a dominant first-innings score of 235 after half-centuries from Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shivam Dube.

The Knight Riders produced a valiant response in the chase but couldn’t match Chennai’s firepower with the bat, succumbing to another damning loss at home.

Having been put into bat by KKR, CSK displayed aggressive intent from the outset on their way to posting their highest score in the IPL. Devon Conway continued his fine form to bring up his fourth successive half-century this season, while Gaikwad manufactured some fortuitous boundaries early on to take CSK to 59 at the end of the powerplay.

Gaikwad found his timing with a couple of gorgeous shots against Sunil Narine in the seventh over but was deceived by a Suyash Sharma googly to fall for a 20-ball 35. KKR temporarily reduced the scoring rate following Gaikwad’s dismissal, with Conway slowing down as he approached his fifty before holing out to long-off against Varun Chakravarthy on 56.

However, the Kiwi’s dismissal catalysed the Chennai innings, with Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane sharing a lightning-quick stand of 85 from 32 deliveries. The pair sprayed the KKR attack to all parts of the ground, with Dube launching into the spinners – Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma – while Rahane unleashed a variety of classical and improvised T20 strokes to reach a 24-ball half-century.

Dube departed after a stunning 21-ball 50, but Rahane continued his momentum through till the end, smacking Varun Chakravarthy for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over to take CSK to an ominous total of 235.

The Knight Riders were rocked early in response as Akash Singh knocked over Sunil Narine’s off-stump for a duck before Tushar Deshpande removed N Jagadeesan in the next over. Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer struggled to keep up with the run rate in the powerplay for KKR, but coming in at number five, Jason Roy offered some fight for the hosts. Roy smashed his England team-mate Moeen Ali for three consecutive sixes, but despite reaching a 19-ball half-century, KKR struggled to keep in touch with the asking rate.

Roy was eventually cleaned up by Maheesh Theekshana for 61, while all-rounders Andre Russell and David Wiese departed in quick succession to see KKR suffer their fourth consecutive defeat by 49 runs.