Kolkata Knight Riders took sweet revenge for last season’s summit clash defeat to Chennai Super Kings with a six-wicket win over the defending champion in the opening match of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.
After bowlers restricted defending champions Chennai Super Kings to 131 for 5 in 20 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders batters comfortably chased down the 132 runs target with nine balls to spare.
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Opening the innings, Ajinkya Rahane, who was dropped from the Indian team due to poor form, played a breezy innings to set the tone of KKR’s chase. Rahane scored 44 off 34. He decorated his innings with six boundaries and a maximum.
Chasing the decent target, KKR got off to a flying start from opening duo Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 16. Venkatesh was the first wicket to fall when Dwayne Bravo got him nicked behind the stumps to MS Dhoni. Bravo struck again in the 10th over when he dismissed Nitish Rana, who was looking dangerous.
In the end, it was captain Shreyas Iyer (20 not out) and Sam Billings who completed the routine chase. Billings scored 25 before Bravo stuck again to get his scalp. It was Bravo’s third scalps in the match.
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Umesh Yadav shines with ball
Earlier, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer’s decision to field first proved crucial as his bowlers justified his decision with economical spells to restrict the defending champions CSK to a dismal total.
Among the bowlers, Umesh Yadav stood out. The fast bowler proved his ability to strike in the powerplay yet again. His first seven balls have gone for 11 runs, but then he emerged almost unplayable. He started with the wicket of last season’s Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third ball of the first over for a nought. In CSK’s fifth over, Umesh struck again. This time he sent Devon Conway packing for 3. The right-arm paceman eventually completed his four-overs quota for two wickets and 20 runs.
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Since IPL 2018, Umesh Yadav has had the best strike rate (17.60) and second-best average (21.90) among bowlers who have delivered a minimum of 40 Powerplay overs.
Varun Chakravarthy scalped the wicket of Robin Uthappa, who scored 28, while Andre Russell dismissed Ambati Rayudu for 15.
On a slow Wankhede wicket, CSK batters struggled to fathom the variation of KKR bowlers.
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Among the CSK batters, only Uthappa looked fluent in the middle overs before getting dismissed by Chakravarthy. The right-handed batter started in a promising fashion. He smashed two sixes and two boundaries but was stumped by wicket-keeper Sheldon Jackson off Chakravathy’s bowling.
MS Dhoni’s 50 not out goes in vain
A poor start proved too costly for CSK as the middle order crumbled under pressure. As the top order and middle order batters were sent back to the dressing room, captain Ravindra Jadeja, who is captaining the franchise for the first time, found himself doing the odd job of staging a recovery along with his former skipper MS Dhoni.
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The partnership did not yield any big result but it enabled CSK to go past 100 runs mark, with Dhoni playing yet another cameo. Dhoni, at the fag end of the CSK innings hit six and seven boundaries, to complete his fifty. His partner Jadeja relied on singles to remain at the crease. Dhoni was eventually unbeaten for 50 while Jadeja scored 26 not out.
KKR will next play Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 30, while CSK will play Lucknow Super Giants on March 31.
