Twitter Reactions: Ravindra Jadeja shows nerves of steel to take CSK home in Rajputana style

The 49th fixture of the Indian Premier League (IPL) pitted up the bottom-placed, playing-for-pride Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Out of the reckoning of the playoffs for the first time, CSK entered into the game as party-poopers, while the affair for their opponents was a must-win one.

Having won the toss, MS Dhoni invited the Knight Riders to bat. Leading the way early for his team, Shubman Gill smacked some breathtaking drives and took the advantage of the fielding restrictions. Being the only team without even a single fifty-plus opening stand this year, Gill and Rana played with good intent to ensure that the unwanted record was erased from the front of their name.

Almost immediately after the 50-run stand, Karn Sharma got the better of Gill (26 from 17) as he knocked him over on his slider.

Scintillating Rana 

KKR was soon jolted again in the next over when the pinch-hitter Sunil Narine, in an attempt to slog Mitchell Santner, holed the ball straight to Ravindra Jadeja at midwicket. While Rana continued milking runs with ease through a slew of impressive strokes, no other batsman in the middle-order batted with much responsibility. Playing his first game in the season, Rinku Singh (11 from 11), was dismissed cheaply after he top-edged a slog to deep square leg, leaving the team 93/3.

Pressing the accelerator from the other end, Rana slapped three sixes off Karn Sharma before perishing against Lungi Ngidi, thereby bringing a well-made 87 from 61 to an end. Eoin Morgan (15 from 12) tried to tee off, he was not able to do much. However, KKR finished with a competitive total of 172.

CSK’s lukewarm start 

Though CSK got off to a decent start as the openers Shane Watson and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 50 runs, the run rate was once again a concern as CSK took 7.3 overs to complete the half-century stand. Watson (14 from 19) was struggling, and he towered Varun Chakravarthy’s length ball in a bid to up the ante, only to find Rinku Singh at long-on.

What followed was another promising 68-run stand between Ambati Rayudu and Gaikwad, who looked in complete control during his entire knock. When the going was merry, Rayudu got hurried up after hitting a couple of boundaries against Pat Cummins. Trying to get a hat-trick of fours, Rayudu holed one straight to Sunil Narine at mid-off, after which began the story of CSK’s troubles.

KKR made their way back in the game as Chakravarthy cleaned up MS Dhoni for just 1, and Gaikwad (72 from 53), in an attempt to scoop Cummins behind the wickets, got his stumps rattled. CSK had their hopes lying on Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja, who both smacked an off-colour, Lockie Ferguson for 20 runs in the penultimate over to bring it down to 10 required from 6.

Suffocating both the batsmen for four balls, young Nagarkoti managed to keep things quiet for the first four balls, however, Ravindra Jadeja slapped a couple of sixes to win the battle of pride for his team.

Here is how the Twitter reacted on CSK vs KKR game: