KKR return to winning ways as CSK choke

Rahul Tripathi celebrated his promotion to the top by striking a 51-ball 81 as Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways with a 10-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.

Tripathi stood tall on the way to his fifth IPL fifty before Kolkata Knight Riders faltered in the back end of the innings to be bowled out for 167.

In reply, CSK were stopped at 157 for five.

Having restored his confidence with a whirlwind 83 not out against Kings XI Punjab, veteran CSK opener Shane Watson picked up from where he had left to slam a 40-ball 50, his 21st in the lucrative league.

Watson feasted on the short-ball strategy of KKR bowlers in a 69-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu (30 from 27 balls).

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Things began to change when KKR got their second wicket as Kamlesh Nagarkoti dismissed Rayudu for 30 in the 13th over. Watson, meanwhile, brought up his second successive half-century. Narine then swung the match towards KKR when he trapped Watson in front. CSK had lost two wickets in the space of two overs.

CSK needed 58 from the last 5 overs and Sam Curran targeted Narine, hitting a six and a four to bring down the target to 44 from the last four overs. Varun Chakravarthy bowled the 17th over and got the big wicket of MS Dhoni for 11. KKR brought Russell into the attack in the 18th over and he struck with his first ball, scalping Curran and conceded not more than three runs.

With 36 required from the last two overs, CSK hit two fours in the penultimate over bowled by Narine. Russell, then bowled two dot balls at the start of the final over, and while Jadeja hit two fours and a six, KKR sealed a 10-run win.

The victory catapulted KKR to the third place in the table with three wins from five matches, while CSK remained at five with four points from six games.

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings staged a remarkable comeback as KKR lost three wickets in the last over with 'birthday boy' Dwayne Bravo removing two of them for an impressive 3/37.

Tripathi raced to his fifty in 31 balls to give KKR a solid foundation after Dinesh Karthik called it right at the toss.

At 93 for two at the midway stage, KKR looked set for a big score but Bravo struck after that.

Leg-spinner Karn Sharma (2/25), Shradul Thakur (2/28), Sam Curran (2/26) claimed two wickets each as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side bounced back in the back-10 by taking eight wickets while giving away just 74 runs.

Dhoni picked up four catches, the last one being his best effort.

On a Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch that seemed to slow down, Tripathi played a risk-free knock and maintained a healthy run-rate.

Karthik made a baffling decision to send Sunil Narine ahead of their best batsman, Eoin Morgan, at No. 4. However, Narine did his job with a nine-ball 17 before being dismissed by an excellent combined effort by a diving Ravindra Jadeja and Faf du Plessis.

Morgan started with a classical cover drive boundary but Curran cut short the with a bouncer that climbed in and took a faint edge behind the stumps.

Thakur, who had given the first breakthrough by dismissing an in-form Shubman Gill (11), claimed the big wicket of Andre Russell with a cross-seam short delivery as the KKR dazzler struggled to get going.

(With inputs from iplt20.com)