Chennai Super Kings on Sunday pulled off an emphatic 2-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match no. 38 in Abu Dhabi. MS Dhoni and his boys came out with flying colours as they successfully completed a stiff chase of 172 runs.
Despite a solid start by the opening duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis, CSK found it hard to stop the regular fall of wickets. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja played a catalytic innings of 22 runs in 8 balls towards the end, before falling prey to Sunil Narine, on the fifth ball of the final over. With 1 required off 1 ball, Deepak Chahar gave the finishing touch.
This win once again brought Dhoni under the limelight for his exemplary leadership. Heaping massive praise on the CSK’s clever heist over KKR, former India opener Virender Sehwag said opponents would need to play their best game for the whole of 40 overs to beat Dhoni’s team.
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“They made a statement right after arriving in the UAE as they won third game on the trot. It’s a known fact that if CSK are unbeatable when they play well. However, bowling has been their weak link. Like we saw today. They could have restricted KKR to 150-160 odd runs but, they conceded 171.
{{/usCountry}}“They made a statement right after arriving in the UAE as they won third game on the trot. It’s a known fact that if CSK are unbeatable when they play well. However, bowling has been their weak link. Like we saw today. They could have restricted KKR to 150-160 odd runs but, they conceded 171.
{{/usCountry}}“If they bat first and score 160-170 runs then may find it difficult to defend the total because they don’t have any variety in their bowling, neither the have any mystery spinner. So, that’s what I feel, the problem is. Otherwise, they have so much depth in their batting. Shardul comes in at no. 9 or 10. If you promote him up in the order, he will definitely score like a proper batter, like he did in England,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“The biggest challenge remains when they would bat first. It has to be seen how they play then. Everyone knows CSK is much better and you can’t have an easy win against them. You have to toil hard for entire game. Like we say, when you face Australia, you need to play good cricket for entire 40 overs. Same thing goes while playing against CSK,” he added.
With this win, CSK have now moved to the top of the table with 16 points. They next square off against out-of-the-race Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday in Sharjah.