Twitter Reactions: CSK overpower a single-handed Andre Russell to victory at the Chepauk
Russell's 44-ball 50 went in vain.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been a dominant force at home at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. And today, they showed exactly the same with a victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets. Subsequently, MS Dhoni and Co moved to the top of the points table with their fifth win in six games. On the contrary, the Men in Gold and Purple moved down to the second position.
Andre Russell steadies the ship
Bearing in mind the dew factor, CSK won the toss and elected to field first and the decision turned out to be a masterstroke as they reduced the visitors to 44 for five in the ninth over. Most of the top order batsmen tried to go bonkers but kept throwing their wickets away. Deepak Chahar accounted for Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana’s wickets. Uthappa hot two fours, however, couldn’t get going.
Dinesh Karthik looked good for his 19 and he fell prey to Imran Tahir. Shubman Gill became Tahir’s second victim. Then, it was all about Andre Russell against the Super Kings. Today, the Jamaican couldn’t time the ball and was also not 100 per cent fit. In the sapping heat of Chennai, he farmed the strike and notched his half-century in 44 balls with three sixes. His knock helped KKR post 108 in 20 overs.
Hosts get home comfortably
The CSK batsmen came out firing on all cylinders. Shane Watson scored 12 runs off Piyush Chawla in the first over and he got out to Sunil Narine after scoring 17 runs from nine deliveries. Suresh Raina looked positive, but a superlative catch from Chawla sent him packing. Suresh Raina picked up the southpaw. The Super Kings had scored 35 runs in five overs and were well and truly in the driver’s seat.
The required rate was never an issue and Faf du Plessis along with Ambati Rayudu picked up the singles and kept chipping away at the target. The boundaries didn’t flow, but it wasn’t a concern for the duo in the middle. Ambati Rayudu perished to a horrendous stroke of Chawla after scoring 21. Faf du Plessis remained not out on 43 from 45 balls with three boundaries and saw his team over the line.
Here is how Twitter reacted
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