A combination of disciplined bowling and clever field placement did the trick for Chennai Super Kings as they achieved a favourable start to the 145-run defence. MS Dhoni bowled his seamers through the PowerPlay and it worked like a breeze, as Deepak Chahar struck thrice to dent Kolkata Knight Riders.
With the pitch misbehaving and the Chepauk crowd raucously behind the home team, pressure was immense on Kolkata Knight Riders. But the visitors had two skipper Nitish Rana, who deals with spin expertly, and the in-form Rinku Singh occupying the middle.
A 99-run partnerhip bloomed with both batters raising fifties. Rana that was put down by Mahesh Theekshana in the deep, the closest Chennai Super Kings came to dislodging the pair during the stand. Rinku was run out post reaching the landmark but Rana saw through the chase to earn two vital points for his side that keep their campaign alive, even though they aren’t the authors of their own fortune anymore.
Partnership over FIFTY now for the fourth wicket 👌🏻👌🏻
The Rinku-Rana pair have rescued @KKRiders out of trouble and with some composure 🧊#KKR need 49 off 42.
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/d7m0BcEtvi #TATAIPL | #CSKvKKR pic.twitter.com/dgmMmUxDVu
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2023
