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IPL 2021: Twitter Erupts As Chennai Super Kings Overcome Whirlwind Assaults by Andre Russell And Pat Cummins To Notch Up Their 3rd Consecutive Win

By Yash Mittal

Published - 22 Apr 2021, 01:28 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 02:49 PM

Chennai Super Kings, Deepak Chahar, Sunil Narine
Chennai Super Kings win by 18 runs [Image-IPLT20]

Chennai Super Kings has pulled off their third consecutive win in IPL 2021 to claim the top spot in the points table as brilliant belligerent knocks from Andre Russell [54 off 22], Dinesh Karthik [40 off 24] and Pat Cummins’ who stayed unbeaten at 34-ball 66 eventually didn’t prove to be enough for Kolkata Knight Riders, who have succumbed to their third consecutive defeat in the competition.

Needing 221 to win, Kolkata Knight Riders needed a brilliant powerplay to make a fist out of the target but it turned out to be the exact opposite thanks to yet another masterclass in swing bowling by Deepak Chahar and some pretty poor shot selection by the Knight Riders batting-unit.

MS Dhoni claimed Nitish Rana’s catch [Image-IPLT20]
Shubman Gill, in an attempt to up the ante from the first over itself, registered a golden duck as he holed out to Lungi Ngidi at deep third-man. Nitish Rana played a couple of brilliant shots before he eventually perished while trying to scoop Deepak Chahar.

Deepak Chahar has the last laugh [Image-IPLT20]
Deepak Chahar then proceeded to go bang-bang in his third over as he induced an outside edge off Eoin Morgan after having troubled him with a series of inswingers and outswingers. KKR sent Sunil Narine ahead of Andre Russell to get a few quick runs but the experiment didn’t work out as the left-armer holed out at cover thanks to a brilliant catch by Ravindra Jadeja.

4/31 soon became 5/31 as Rahul Tripathi, in an attempt to upper-cut Lungi Ngidi, proceeded to get a thick edge off his bat. It looked all over for Kolkata Knight Riders but Andre Russell wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Dre Russ hammered a whirlwind 21-ball 50 [Image-IPLT20]
Russell pulled his 2019 moniker and proceeded to smash CSK bowlers to all corners of the Wankhede. Russell started off by smashing Ngidi for a couple of fours and a monstrous six over long-off in his first four balls. It was a start of a sustained carnage by Dre Russell as he just laid into whoever that came on to bowl by smoking them to every corner of the Wankhede.

Russell smashed Shardul Thakur for 24 runs in his first over before hitting a Ravindra Jadeja free-hit for a six over his head to get to 50 in just 21 balls. Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, too hit his shots but at the same time, he also ensured that Russell got the most of the strike.

Andre Russell undone by Sam Curran [Image-IPLT20]
Dhoni took a punt and brought Sam Curran into the attack and the move worked as the left-arm seamer completely outfoxed Andre Russell, who was expecting him to fire it wide of off-stump, by clean bowling him round his legs

But the carnage did not stop. Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins continued with the onslaught until the former was trapped LBW courtesy of a brilliant slower delivery from Lungi Ngidi.

Pat Cummins [Image-IPLT20]
But Cummins was in imperious hitting form. In what was an amazing display of clean hitting, Pat Cummins hammered Sam Curran for as many as 30 runs which included four sixes and one four in the 16th over to bring the equation down to 45 off the last four overs.

Cummins brought up his half-century in just 23 deliveries with a double in the 18th over before smashing a four on the 5th ball. With 28 needed off the last 12 balls, it was all down to Pat Cummins to steer KKR to an unlikely win.

Dhoni gave Sam Curran the penultimate over and Cummins deposited him over the deep square leg for another six. Cummins played a brilliant straight-drive on the next delivery but it went straight to the fielder and in an attempt to retain the strike, Varun Chakravarthy sacrificed his wicket.

Sam Curran came back brilliantly to give just 1 run off the next three deliveries, leaving Pat Cummins to get 20 all by himself in the final over, which eventually didn’t happen as Prasidh Krishna also got run-out in trying to get Cummins to the strike.

Whirlwind opening stand between Rututraj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis guided Chennai Super Kings to 3/220

Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis [Image-IPLT20]
Batting first, Chennai Super Kings got off to a rollicking start thanks to a whirlwind 115-run-opening stand between Ruturaj Gaikwad (64 off 42) and Faf du Plessis, who remained unbeaten on a magnificent 60-ball 95.

CSK’s faith in Ruturaj Gaikwad despite three continuous failures paid off as the young right-handed opener brought his ‘A game’ to the Wankhede on Wednesday night.

Ruturaj Gaikwad [Image-IPLT20]
Gaikwad played some of the most sumptuous strokes that would whet the appetite of any cricket fan. The way he drove the ball through the covers was a sight to behold, as was the scene when he stepped out of the crease and hit the pacers over his head.

Gaikwad was equally imperious against the pace of Cummins and Krishna as he was against the spin of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.

Faf du Plessis [Image-IPLT20]
Faf du Plessis, on the other hand, went about his business in his usual way as he cut, dabbed, scoop (of course) with disdain.

The duo racked up 115 runs in 12.2 overs against a Kolkata Knight Riders attack that had a pretty ordinary outing at the office, especially their experienced pacers in Pat Cummins and Prasidh Krishna, both of whom conceded in excess of 11 rpo.

Varun Chakravarthy [Image-IPLT20]
Chakravarthy (1/27 in four overs) was the best Kolkata Knight Riders bowler by a mile, and it was him who got Eoin Morgan the first wicket in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

But, with the kind of platform that Chennai Super Kings had laid and because dew would play a crucial role in the second half, the three-time champions needed to continue with the intent.

And, that is exactly what they did by scoring 138 in the last ten. Moeen Ali smashed a breezy 12-ball 25, as did MS Dhoni, who stroked an 8-ball 17. Faf du Plessis smashed a couple of sixes off Pat Cummins in the final over before Nitish Rana dropped Jadeja at the deep midwicket boundary to give CSK another six and push their score to 3/220.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1384925459989868545

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1384921309549940741?s=19

https://twitter.com/im_yash2307/status/1384883092981174272?s=19

https://twitter.com/cricvizanalyst/status/1384876317796098049?s=19

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IPL 2021 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

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