Sanju Samson and Dewald Brevis scored valuable runs before Ahmed Noor captured three wickets for 21 runs in Chennai Super Kings' 32-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their Tata Indian Premier League match at the Chepauk Stadium on Tuesday evening.
“Definitely feeling good to be honest. We defended a good score. I felt it was a par score considering that the wicket drastically changed after the first seven or eight overs,” Ruturaj Gaikwad, the CSK captain, said.
The victory lifts CSK into eighth place on the table. The hosts, who were put in to bat first by KKR's captain, Ajinkya Rahane, scored 192/5. Their bowlers banded together to restrict the visitors to 160/7 in 20 overs.
“Finally good to see a good cricket wicket with something in it for everyone, and not just a belter. We just exploited whatever was on offer. There was something there, so about using natural variations. Most important thing was staying on the stumps and making them hit to balls that were slower or were skidding through,” Akeal Hosein, one of CSK’s two spinners, shared.
Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre gave the hosts a rollicking start with a 47-run second-wicket partnership. The pair steered the hosts to 72/2 at the close of the powerplay. Mhatre scored a brisk 17-ball 38, while Samson made a healthy 48 from 32 balls.
“I thought with the ball, we did very good. 190 on this wicket was very good. To pull it back for 190 (after the powerplay CSK had) was very good,” Rahane said after the contest.
KKR fought back through Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy's brilliant spells with the ball in the middle overs. However, the visitors couldn't keep CSK quiet for long, thanks to Dewald Brevis' presence in the middle order. The 22-year-old, who missed out on CSK's first three games due to injury and wasn't required in the fourth game, scored a handy 29-ball 41. The Proteas player helped the hosts consolidate with a 51-run fourth-wicket partnership with Sarfaraz Khan (23).
Khaleel Ahmed and Anshul Kamboj ensured that KKR did not enjoy a flying start in their chase. They claimed a wicket each as they helped restrict KKR to 36/2 after the powerplay, which was half of what CSK achieved in the first six overs. Their performance forced KKR onto the back foot.
“Cricket games, when you see teams score between 170-190, you know you will get a hell of a game. It was a day where you had to work for what you wanted, and not just turn up with eyes closed and magical things would happen,” said Hosein.
KKR fought back with a spirited 50-run third-wicket partnership between Ajinkya Rahane (28) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi ((27). Akeal Hosein broke that partnership with Raghuvanshi's dismissal. Noor Ahmad followed that up with the important wickets of Rahane and Cameron Green in consecutive deliveries in the next over.
Rovman Powell (31*) and Ramandeep Singh (35) cobbled together KKR's highest partnership by adding 63 runs for the seventh wicket. Unfortunately, their effort was too little too late to rescue the match for the visitors.
“Very happy for Noor. The last couple of games, he was struggling but happy for him to get some success and confidence behind him,” Hosein revealed.
Ahmad was CSK's star with the ball. The 21-year-old Afghanistan wrist spinner varied his pace and used angles well on his way to three wickets for 21 runs in four overs. Anshul Kamboj captured two wickets for 32 runs in four overs, while Khaleel Ahmed and Hosein finished with a wicket each.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan, Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora.