KKR stay alive, CSK made to wait
Chennai, May 14
Skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh slammed fifties and shared a 99-run stand to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable six-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Rana remained unbeaten on 57 off 44 balls while Rinku made 54 off 43 deliveries to set up KKR’s chase of 145 runs after they lost their first three wickets for 33 runs inside five overs. Rana led from the front after making the most of a dropped chance. KKR’s cause was helped to a large extent by a superb bowling effort earlier by the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, who picked up two wickets each.
KKR moved up to seventh with 12 points, while CSK stayed in second spot with 15 points.
Earlier, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to the modest score. Opting to bat, CSK were 72/5 in in the 11th over before Shivam Dube underlined his utility, scoring a 34-ball 48 to help the hosts recover in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 24). The duo shared a 68-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Narine (2/15) and Chakravarthy (2/36) were the pick of the bowlers for KKR. The two did the damage in the middle of the innings before Dube and Jadeja launched a fightback.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings: 144/6 (Dube 48*; Narine 2/15, Chakravarthy 2/36); Kolkata Knight Riders: 147/4 in 18.3 overs (Rana 57, Rinku 54; Chahar 3/27). — PTI
Titans look to seal playoff berth
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Titans pride themselves on consistency and would be expected to produce a solid show against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL here today after a rare “flat” performance. Another win should be enough for defending champions Gujarat Titans to seal a playoff berth while Sunrisers, who have only four wins from 11 games, are all but out of the reckoning. Barring Rashid Khan, who starred with both ball and bat against Mumbai Indians, the bowlers had a forgettable outing and no one had answers to the special hitting ability of Suryakumar Yadav.
