IPL 2021, CSK vs KKR: Gaikwad-Jadeja Heroics Help Chennai Beat Kolkata In Nail-Biting Last Over Thriller

For Kolkata, their star spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy choked CSK batters in the death overs but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had the final say with a fiery 8-ball 22.

New Delhi: In a nail-biting last-over thriller that saw so many twists and turns, ups and downs, the star-studded experienced lineup of Chennai Super Kings outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders to attain a hard-fought 2 wicket win at Abu Dhabi on Sunday. This is for the seventh time Chennai has sucessfuly chased down a target off the final ball of the innings, which is also most by a team in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL). 

A 74-run solid opening stand had helped Chennai cruise with dominance in the first half of their innings but Morgan came up with some outstanding bowling changes. For Kolkata, their star spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy choked CSK batters in the death overs but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had the final say with a fiery 8-ball 22. Chennai lost both Jadeja and Curran in last over, but Deepak Chahar held his nerves to take a single off the last ball and help his team get over the line.

Earlier, Kolkata had scored 171 runs for 6 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Rahul Tripathi scored the maximum 45 runs for Kolkata.  Apart from him, Nitish Rana contributed with an unbeaten 37 and wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik made a quick-fire 26. Nitish and Karthik added 41 runs for the sixth wicket.  For Chennai, speedsters Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood bagged 2 wickets apiece while Ravindra Jadeja took 1 wicket.

CSK playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

KKR playing XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguso