KKR will look to seal playo‰ berth with win over MI
GUJARAT TITANS
B. Sai Sudharsan c Dube b Deshpande 103 (51b, 5x4, 7x6), Shubman Gill c Jadeja b Deshpande 104 (55b, 9x4, 6x6), David Miller (not out) 16 (11b, 1x4), M. Shahrukh Khan run out 2 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 231.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-210 (Sai Sudharsan, 17.2 overs), 2-213 (Gill, 17.6), 3-231 (Shahrukh, 19.6).
SUPER KINGS BOWLING Santner 2-0-31-0, Deshpande 4-0-33-2, Shardul 4-0-25-0, Simarjeet 4-0-60-0, Jadeja 2-0-29-0, Mitchell 4-0-52-0. CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
(Impact Player in place of Deshpande)c
(5b),
(2b),
(34b, 7x4, 3x6),
(36b, 4x4, 4x6),
(13b, 2x4, 1x6), 3x6), (2b), (4b): (3b), (10b, 2x4, 1x6), (11b, 1x4,
FALL OF WICKETS
1-2 (Ravindra, 0.6), 2-2 (Rahane, 1.1), 3-10 (Ruturaj, 2.5), 4-119 (Mitchell, 12.2), 5-135 (Moeen, 14.2), 6-165 (Dube, 16.4), 7-169 (Jadeja, 17.3), 8-169 (Santner, 17.5).
TITANS BOWLING Umesh 3-0-20-1, Warrier (Impact Player in place of Sai Sudharsan) 3-0-28-1, Tyagi 4-0-51-0, Noor 2-0-25-0, Rashid 4-0-38-2, Mohit 4-0-31-3.
Toss: CSK. PoM: Gill.
Titans won by 35 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders will look to extend its recent run of success when it returns home after securing two emphatic away wins.
KKR hosts Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
The face-o against MI assumes more signicance as a victory will ensure a play-o spot for the Knight Riders.
Spate of success
The spate of success, highlighted by the fact that the team has won four of its last ve outings, puts KKR on top of the league table with 16 points from 11 matches.
This also makes it the favourite against the struggling MI, currently lying in the eighth spot (with eight points from 12 matches). MI is out of the race for a spot in the playos.
The opening partnership of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt has been a crucial factor in KKR’s consistent performance. Narine’s belligerence with the bat has been a key element in KKR amassing 200-plus totals in six of the eight innings where it has batted rst.
Exceptional
Narine, who has scored 461 runs at a strike rate of 183.67, is in exceptional form that has propelled him as the team’s most successful all-rounder. As a bowler, which is his primary vocation, Narine has been outstanding with an economy rate of 6.61.
Salt, having scored 429 runs at a strike rate of 183.33, has proved to be the right companion for Narine. KKR, which beat MI by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, will be banking on its key players to come good again.