IPL 2020: Match 21 – KKR vs CSK – Who Said What

Dinesh Karthik opted to bat first after winning the toss in the game against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Rahul Tripathi played a brilliant knock for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) even though he kept losing partners at regular intervals. The Ranchi-born batsman accumulated 81 runs off 51 balls after being provided with the opportunity to open the innings. Having reached the late 90s in the 11th over itself, KKR were expected to put up a big total – something even in excess of 180 or 190. However, CSK pulled things back beautifully.

They picked up some crucial wickets towards the end and didn’t let KKR’s big strikers getaway. Despite a 9-ball 17 by Pat Cummins towards the end, KKR could only get to 167 before they were bowled out on the last ball of the 20th over. Also, they became the first team in IPL 2020 to get bundled out. On his birthday, Dwayne Bravo picked up three wickets while all the other bowlers, except Deepak Chahar, picked up two wickets each.

Chennai Super Kings dig up a hole for themselves

In the chase, CSK had things in control pretty much for the entire first half of their innings. Faf du Plessis provided them with an aggressive start while Shane Watson went on to score 50. Ambati Rayudu also played his hand scoring 30 from 27 balls. However, things turned awry once this duo got out. MS Dhoni walked out at number four. But he couldn’t make much of an impact and scored just 11 off 12 balls.

CSK were well placed with 90 runs on the board after 10 overs. But, in the next five overs, they only got 14 runs. The required run-rate kept creeping up and CSK literally dug up a hole for themselves throwing it away. Despite Ravindra Jadeja’s blitzkrieg towards the end, CSK lost by 10 runs.

Andre Russell, the KKR all-rounder, said

That’s the beauty of this game. Didn’t go well with the bat and I made up with the ball today. Big moment bowling the pressure overs and I’m happy. Cross-seamers are the danger balls on this surface and once it hits the seam, it kicks. CSK bowlers used that a lot and I made sure I executed it well when I came onto bowl. I’m still confident (about finding form with the bat) and these things happen in cricket and I’m still working to find my way.

MS Dhoni, the CSK captain, said

In the middle overs there was a phase where they bowled 2-3 good overs. If we batted better, and didn’t lose 2-3 wickets in a row,. We should’ve been careful in the first 5-6 overs. Curran was really good with the ball, and I think we did well in general with the ball, but the batsmen let the bowlers down today. Rotation of strike was important, but I think there were hardly any boundaries in the final few overs, so we need to be innovative at the end when they are continuously hitting a back of a length. That’s where we need to adapt better with the bat and I don’t think we did that.

Dinesh Karthik, the KKR captain, said

There are some key players for every team. Narine is one for us. Least we can do is back him. 2-3 poor games, doesn’t matter. Good to see Tripathi do the job at the top. Good thing about Russ is he’s very versatile. He can bat slightly up, slightly down. Our batting is very fluid. I started at three, today I batted at seven. The way those guys batted at the start, they batted very well. Back end I have a lot of trust in Sunil and Varun, paid off.

Rahul Tripathi, the Man of the Match, said

Something like a dream come true for me. Was prepared for both the roles. Thought the ball was coming nicely, so I thought we should keep up the scoreboard which is why those shots came out, nothing special. It’s a journey. Have loved this journey. Coming to KKR is special. Performing in front of Shahrukh sir is very special. It’s a dream come true.