Kolkata/IBNS: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday pulled off a 49-run comfortable victory over troubled Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens, where a huge crowd turned up in yellow t-shirts supporting cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
CSK, who lost the toss and were put to bat first, started off just like they were expected with Devon Conway (56 off 40 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (35 off 20 balls) putting KKR bowlers out of the park straightaway.
KKR, whose bowlers looked pale in the powerplay overs, had to wait till the eighth over to get their first breakthrough in the form of Gaikwad, who was bowled out by spinner Suyash Sharma.
In the next five overs, the riot of runs was carried out by Conway and Ajinkya Rahane, who is in a dream T20 touch this season.
Though Conway fell to Varun Chakaravarthy in the 13th over, Rahane, who is widely known for his technically sound batting, made the hosts toil till the 20th over.
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Rahane, who remained unbeaten at 71 off just 29 balls, partnered Shivam Dube (50 off 21 balls) for the third wicket to continue the onslaught powering CSK to post a mammoth 235/4 in 20 overs.
Dhoni, who in all probability is playing the last IPL season, promoted himself two steps in the batting order to play the last over amid the loud cheer from the crowd.
Windies allrounder Sunil Narine, who was sent to the opening slot for early hits by KKR, backfired as he was sent back by Akash Singh for a duck in the first over.
Narine was followed by N Jagdeeshan in the second over amid the surge in the asking rate in the tough run chase.
English recruit Jason Roy (61 of 26 balls) and young sensation Rinku Singh (53 not out off 33 balls) were the two lone batters who kept the hosts remotely in the fight.
Though Dhonis bowling rotation and his trademark captaincy restricted KKR to 186/8 in 20 overs, the hosts managed to avoid an embarrassing rout.
While the two points from Kolkata promoted CSK to the table top with 10 points (5 wins from 7 matches) in the IPL standings, KKRs fourth defeat on a trot kept them languishing at the eighth spot.
(Photography: Avishek Mitra/IBNS)
