KKR vs CSK, IPL 2023: Ajinkya Rahane Shines As Chennai Super Kings Beat Kolkata Knight Riders, Rise To Top Spot In Table

23.04.2023 - 20:17 sports.ndtv.com

Ajinkya Rahane, whose T20 game has undergone complete metamorphosis, smashed an eye-popping 29-ball-71 as Chennai Super Kings, buoyed by support from capacity Eden Gardens crowd, out-batted Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs in an IPL game, on Sunday.

A transformed Rahane took Eden Gardens by storm with his sensational stroke-play which was complemented in equal measure by the muscular Shivam Dube (50 off 21 balls) and ever-consistent Devon Conway (56 off 40 balls) with CSK scoring an imposing 235 for 4 in 20 overs.

With Jason Roy pulling a hamstring while fielding, the chase was out of question and Dhoni's young pace troika of Akash Singh (1/29 in 4 overs),Matheesa Pathirana (1/27 in 4 overs) and Tushar Deshpande (2/43 in 4 overs) along with seasoned spinners Moeen Ali (1/20 in 1 over), Maheesh Theekshana (2/32 in 4 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/34 in 3 overs) restricted KKR to 186 for 8 in 20 overs.

Jason Roy (61 off 26 balls) coming in at No.5 due to hamstring niggle , did try his bit with a 19-ball half-century but 236 even with best of batting line-ups would have been a tall-order.

cricket Chennai Super Kings as Jason Roy Devon Conway Ajinkya Rahane Kolkata Chennai

Kolkata Knight Riders will be taking on Rajasthan Royals in their next IPL 2023 match on Thursday, at the Eden Gardens. The Nitish Rana-led team is currently standing at the fifth place on the points table with a total of five wins out of 11 matches. KKR will be coming to this clash after clinching a victory by 5 wickets in a thrilling encounter against Punjab Kings. Their star pacer Umesh Yadav, who sustained a minor hamstring injury, has benched for the past few games and is expected to make his way back into the Playing XI against RR.

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