The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Spin-win reputation restored
Jadeja puts brakes on KKR before Gaikwad leads from front in low-scoring win
Walk in the park
There was some turn on offer. And there were deliveries that were keeping a tad low as well. All of it would have made Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy and Anukul Roy excited. Even Mitchell Starc would have got some help if he banged slow deliveries into the pitch. But with just 137 to defend, it was always going to be a tall order against a line-up that bats deep. For Kolkata to stall Chennai’s chase, they needed wickets in the powerplay.
But sans any scoreboard pressure, Chennai in need of wresting back the momentum they lost -- in away matches to Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad – played safely. Of course, Rachin Ravindra ensured they got a quickfire start once again before departing in the fourth over as Chennai had 52 by the end of the powerplay. From there on, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell paced their innings by rotating the strike regularly and finding the odd boundary here and there. That Gaikwad got to his first fifty of the season off his 45th delivery showed, how Chennai shelved intent for a change.
It was perhaps the need of the hour as well. Though he has appeared in good touch, Gaikwad’s lack of intent was beginning to be a concern for Chennai. With the required runrate under control, he took time to get some runs behind his back, which would definitely add to his confidence before they go on the road again to face Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants.
Mitchell departed against the run of play before Shivam Dube arrived and landed the finishing blows, including three sixes in his trademark style as Chennai ensured their fortress remained intact.
Lighting up the powerplay
Earlier, after being asked to bat first on a strip that was full of runs, Kolkata straight away went into top gear. With dew expected to play its part in the second-half, Kolkata showed all the right intent in search of those extra runs that might have been of some cushion while defending. Though Phil Salt departed off the first ball, caught at point, Sunil Narine destroyed Chennai’s hope of making further immediate inroads. With Angkrish Raghuvanshi too looking confident, runs flowed for Kolkata as overs 3, 4 and 5 got them 19, 11 and 13 respectively. It was good oldfashioned T20 batting, clearing the front leg and making full use of the fielding restrictions. That Chennai’s attack didn’t show any sort of discipline played into Kolkata’s hands. When Mustafizur Rahman came onto bowl his second over inside the powerplay, it showed the dire straits that Chennai found themselves in. The 56 runs that they conceded was their most expensive one so far this IPL at home. As “Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo” went around, Chepauk was totally silenced.
Jadeja ends drought
For a venue that used to be the spinners' favourite destination, the Chepauk has had no traces of it this season. Instead, to make the most out of their batting riches, Chennai have preferred to roll out flat decks with 180190 looking the par score. It meant, Chennai haven’t used their spinners to choke the opponents. Prior to Monday’s fixture, Chennai’s spinners were yet to open their account at home. With their attack lacking the bite in the absence of Matheesha Pathirana and the rest being expensive, it was Ravindra Jadeja who brought Chennai back into the game. And by the time he finished his spell on the trot, he had put Chennai on top.
Off his first ball, he accounted for Raghuvanshi, trapping him in front while going for a reverse-sweep. Then four balls later, Jadeja had Narine caught at long-off. The track which was showing no assistance till then, turned and gripped a bit. Kolkata threw in Venkatesh Iyer – a perfect match-up to neutralise Jadeja – but not once in his eight-ball stay did he look in complete control. He swung his bat without making proper connection, before mistiming one to Daryl Mitchell at deep mid-wicket. It was déjà-vu for an opponents at Chepauk, with spinners strangling them in the middle-overs.
Having brought up their fifty in 4.6 overs, Kolkata’s 100 came only in 15.2 overs. Between the 7-16 overs, Kolkata scored only 53 runs, losing 4 wickets. It also included a 34-ball period where Kolkata went without scoring a boundary.
Tame end
The only way Kolkata could have come back into the game was if Andre Russell continued his pyrotechnics. When he charged in like John Cena did at Wrestle Mania on Monday morning, even Chepauk cheered his arrival. The innings needed a grandstand finish, just to spice up the contest. The muted silence that followed after Russell struck two powerful boundaries raised hopes of Kolkata’s comeback.
But Chennai were in no mood to hand over the advantage that easily. Instead of feeding anything in his arc, Chennai’s attack bowled wide of off-stump, which kept Russell quieter by his standards before Tushar Deshpande accounted for him with a slower ball. And once Russell was packed off, there was no way back for Kolkata, who ended up with just 137/9. In the death overs (17-20), Kolkata scored 28 runs for the loss of four wickets. Complimenting Jadeja in the attack were Mustafizur (4-0-22-2) and Tushar Deshpande (4-0-33-3).
Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 9 (Iyer 34, Narine 27, Jadeja 3-18, Deshpande 3-33) lost to Chennai Super Kings 141 for 3 (Gaikwad 67, Dube 28; Vaibhav 2-28, Narine 1-30) by seven wickets.