IPL 2019: 23rd Match, Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Match Review
Chennai Super Kings. Credit: IPL

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowlers capitalised the sluggish nature to rout Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from the top of the table as they beat the visitors by seven wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Meanwhile, chasing a below part target, Shane Watson got Chennai Super Kings off to a good start. He took 12 runs off the first over from Piyush Chawla to set the tone for the run chase. However, just when things looked in line for Chennai, Sunil Narine struck twice in quick succession to keep the game interesting. He got the better of Watson and Suresh Raina to have the home side at 35 for two at the end of five overs.

IPL 2019: Match 23, CSK vs KKR - Twitter Reacts as Chennai Super Kings Leapfrog Kolkata Knight Riders to the top of the Points Table 1
IPL

But since then, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis stood tall to build a partnership to bail their side from any other hiccups. They mostly depended on one and two’s while the odd boundaries kept coming from here and there. It looks like Ambati Rayudu has found his format batting at the middle-order ahead of the World Cup. Just when it looked this pair will walk home with a victory, Piyush Chawla broke the 46-run stand.

However, Faf du Plessis stood tall the chase down the target with ease. He remained unbeaten on 43 runs to win the game by seven wickets at the Chepauk Stadium.

Bowlers on song for Chennai

Previously, Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh continued their powerplay menace to put Kolkata Knight Riders out of the game. Chennai Super Kings sent four of Kolkata’s batsmen back to the pavilion with Chahar having a role to play in all of them. He picked three wickets – Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana, and Robin Uthappa and held on to a stunner from Harbhajan Singh to dismiss Sunil Narine.

IPL 2019: Match 23, CSK vs KKR - Twitter Reacts as Chennai Super Kings Leapfrog Kolkata Knight Riders to the top of the Points Table 2
IPL

However, it was Andre Russell who rescued them from that pressure. He played an innings completely against his natural style to bail Kolkata Knight Riders from humiliation. He remained unbeaten on 50 runs from 44 balls including five boundaries and three sixes to guide Kolkata post 108 runs on the board. Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa were the only two other batsmen to cross the single-digit figure. Chennai Super Kings bowlers once again presented a dominating performance with Chahar picking three wickets while Harbhajan and Imran Tahir returning with two each to keep the Kolkata batting in check.

With this win, Chennai Super Kings leapfrogs Kolkata Knight Riders to the top of the table with 10 points from six games.

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Ankush Das

I am an accountant by qualification, my parents thought their obedient son would study further to become a CA, but I had other things in mind. An ardent Cricket fan is following his passion and making...