Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back from their previous defeat to Rajasthan Royals with a resounding victory against Chennai Super Kings in Match 61 of TATA IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 14, 2023. KKR captain Nitish Rana and in-form batsman Rinku Singh stabilized their side’s innings after a stuttering start and guided them to a well-deserved win with some sensible batting.
Chasing a target of 145, KKR got off to a shaky start with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz getting dismissed in the first over.
However, Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer tried to provide some impetus with two fours off Chahar. CSK's pacer bounced back to have Iyer caught at slip in the same over. Nitish Rana then opened his boundary account with a six over long leg off Chahar but Chahar hit back again in the same over as he had Jason Roy caught at slip off a knuckle ball.
Captain Nitish Rana looked in good touch as he lofted another six over long off, off Deshpande to take KKR to 46/3 at the end of the Powerplay. CSK bowled with discipline and gave away just 21 off the next four overs as the away team reached 67/3 at the halfway mark. However, KKR required stability and rebuilding, and Rana and Rinku provided just that. The pair chipped away without taking many risks and brought up the 50-run stand in the 12th over. The duo then upped the ante, hitting some crucial boundaries and bringing the required run rate below six with 28 needed off 30. Rinku Singh then brought up his fifty off 39 balls with a four off Pathirana as KKR took 9 runs from the over.
Rana brought up his 50 off 38 balls as the duo took six singles off Theekshana in the 17th over. The 99-run stand was finally broken via a brilliant direct hit run out from Moeen Ali to send back Rinku Singh (54 off 43). However, Rana (57* off 44) and Russell made sure there were no more stutters as they finished off the chase with nine balls to spare.
Earlier in the match, Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. They named an unchanged XI. CSK got off to a brisk start but lost Ruturaj Gaikwad in the Powerplay. The wickets kept falling as Sunil Narine cleaned up Ambati Rayudu and Moeen Ali in the 11th over to jolt CSK. Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube then got together to rebuild the innings. They mixed caution with aggression as the pair brought up 50-run stand in the 18th over. KKR finished well with some good slog overs bowling as Shardul gave away just five in the penultimate over while Vaibhav Arora dismissed Jadeja (20 off 24) and gave away nine runs as CSK posted a modest total of 144/6.
However, KKR's skillful and disciplined bowling performance, led by Sunil Narine (2/15), saw them restrict CSK to a below-par total. KKR made two changes to the starting eleven as Vaibhav Arora and Suyash Sharma replaced Venkatesh Iyer and Anukul Roy. Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh then stepped up to ensure that KKR bagged two important points with their well-deserved victory.