IPL 2018: 33rd Match, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings - Five Game-Changing Moments

An iconic Eden Garden Stadium on Thursday (May 3) hosted the second leg of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) fixture in the round-robin league.

As it turned out, KKR avenged their defeat (earlier in the season) against CSK with a thumping six-wicket win over table-toppers.

Here’s a look at the game-changing moments:

CSK top order dominance:

Much like the theme of the series, Super Kings’ top order gave their team a flying start with the new ball. The likes of Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, and Suresh Raina ensured that the men in yellow make use of the field restrictions.

In the first seven overs, CSK were going at almost 10 Runs Per Over (RPO), which made KKR play catch up cricket.

Watson scored a breezy 36, looking to continue from where he left off against Delhi Daredevils (DD).

Faf du Plessis scored a free-flowing 27, while Raina helped carry on with the momentum with his knock of 31.

KKR spin web:

After a decent start provided by the top order, CSK lost their way in the middle, as they lost wickets in the middle overs to the spin trio of KKR.

The likes of Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla helped the hosts take charge in the match as the two shared four wickets among themselves.

Also, Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with a wicket to make it difficult for Super Kings – to post a total of around 200, a total they are used to chasing,

Mahi Magic:

Continuing from the momentum in the tournament, Dhoni top-scored for his team and also finished the inning with his 25-ball 43.

Dhoni scored just one boundary but hit four maximums in his knock which came at a strike rate of 173.

Also, Dhoni now has the most number of sixes in the tournament thus far.

Gill’s covering up for the dropped catch:

MSD might have played a gem if a knock, but the talismanic CSK skipper was given a life earlier by Under-19 sensation Shubman Gill. The dropped catch cost 25 runs to his team.

But soon after, in the absence of Rana, Dinesh Karthik promoted Gill up the order at the preferred number four position.

The youngster proved why is he so highly rated as the move paid dividends instantly for Karthik.

Shubman Gill brought up his maiden half-century in IPL career and also sealed it for his with his knock of 57 which came off just 36 balls.

Jadeja’s loose efforts:

When CSK sit down and discuss the loss at Eden Gardens, Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round efforts. Super Kings’ marquee retained player disappointed in all departments of the game.

Jadeja first came ahead of Dwayne Bravo and scored a run-a-ball 31, when the need of the hour was to hit maximums. Also, while taking the field, Jadeja dropped two back-to-back simple catches, giving a couple of lives to Narine.

Ravindra Jadeja also disappointed with the ball as he did bowl to the fields set by Dhoni and conceded 10 RPO.

Overall, Jadeja cost CSK the match in all departments of the game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Also, Read: Twitter Erupts as Shubman Gill Powers Knight Riders to Convincing Win Over CSK