CSK survive late KKR onslaught to win thriller

Mumbai, April 21: Faf du Plessis’ magnificent 95 not out and Deepak Chahar’s impressive four-wicket haul outshone dazzling half centuries from Andre Russell and Pat Cummins as Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 18 runs in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
Sent into bat, du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad knocked the daylight out of KKR bowlers, adding 115 for the opening wicket to lay the foundation.
After Gaikwad was back in the hut, du Plessis continued his rampage, while Mooen Ali and MS Dhoni also came up with useful cameos as CSK posted a big total of 220 for three.
Chasing a stiff target, KKR found themselves in deep trouble as they slumped to 31 for 5 inside five overs after a top-order collapse with Chahar wrecking havoc with figures of 4 for 29 from his four overs.
Russell, however, hit six maximums in a breathtaking 54 off 22 balls and shared 81 runs off 39 balls with Dinesh Karthik to bring KKR back in the hunt.
Once Russell was gone, Cummins raised hopes of an improbable win for KKR he ran out of partners in the end as they were all out for 202 in 19.1 overs, eventually fell short by 18 runs.
Needing 190 runs from 15 overs, Russell first revived KKR’s chase before being cleaned up by Sam Curran.
But it was not over for KKR as yet. Batting at No. 8, KKR pace spearhead Cummins displayed some sensational powerhitting in his 34-ball 66 not out (4×4, 6×6) but they simply did not have enough batting left to keep the show going.
The win took CSK to the top of the table with six points from four matches, while KKR slipped to sixth. (PTI)