Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders took a giant stride towards ensuring a play-off berth as they wallopped Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets to take their winning streak to five matches in the seventh edition of the IPL.
Robin Uthappa got his seventh successive 40-plus score in the championship as his 40-ball-67 enabled the home team to chase down a tricky target of 156 with ease on Tuesday as it turned out to be a worthwhile wait for the supporters present at Eden Gardens.
After Uthappa laid the foundation, Shakib Al Hasan gave finishing touches in a 21-ball 46 not out (6×4, 2×6) in an unbeaten 34 run stand with Manish Pandey (18 no) as KKR eased to the win with 12 balls to spare.
KKR, with 14 points, steered four points clear of RCB and Sunrisers as they now require two more points to seal their play-off berth from two remaining home games.
Uthappa had his share of luck as he was let off twice – on six and and 24 – something that cost the two-time former champions, who had piled 154/5 with Suresh Raina hitting a 51-ball 65.
First it was Ravichandran Aswhin who put down a sitter at the slip in the very second ball as Dhoni brought on Raina and the result was no different, though a difficult one.
Uthappa never looked back as he continued his dream run and middled the ball well hitting 10 boundaries and one six in a 64-run opening wicket partnership with Gautam Gambhir.
In their last seven outings, Gambhir and Uthappa had two century partnerships and three 50 stands together as the opening stand once again punctured CSK’s hopes of a comeback.
The KKR skipper cleverly rotated the strike and played a perfect ally as the duo put on 52 runs in the Powerplay before Ishwar Pandey gave the breakthrough.
Raina punished the spinners with great disdain, slamming five sixes and three fours. The left-hander added 62 off just 36 balls with Faf du Plessis (23) in a third wicket partnership. (PTI)
Brief scores:
CSK: 154/4, 20 overs (S Raina 65; S Narine 1-24)
KKR: 156/2, 18 overs (R Uthappa 67, Shakib 46*; R Jadeja 1-23)
