Chennai now top points table thanks to Rahane's blitz

Chennai Super Kings zoomed to the top of the table in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

Asked to bat, Chennai posted 235 for four in their 20 overs and in response Kolkata finished on 186 for eight in their 20 overs.

Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway added 73 for the first wicket. Gaikwad made 35 off 20 balls and Conway finished on 56 off 40 balls with four boundaries as well as three sixes. Then Ajinkya Rahane added a quickfire 85 runs for the third wicket with Shivam Dube. Rahane finished unbeaten on 71 off 29 balls with six boundaries and five sixes. Dube made 50 off 21 balls with two boundaries and five sixes. In the end Chennai finished on 235 for four in their 20 overs. For Kolkata the successful bowler was Kulwant Khejroliya (2-44).

In their response Kolkata lost their top-order cheaply. The innings was reduced to 70 for four. Then Jason Roy teamed up with Rinku Singh for the fifth wicket. The pair added 65 runs for the fifth wicket. Roy made 61 off 26 balls with five boundaries and five sixes. Singh meanwhile tried to rally the lower-order but it was not enough. Singh finished unbeaten on 53 off 33 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. In the end Kolkata finished on 186 for eight in their 20 overs. For Chennai the two best bowlers were Tushar Deshpande (2-43) and Maheesh Theekshana (2-32). 

Match Summary

Chennai Super Kings: 235-4 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-73 (Ruturaj Gaikwad-7.3 ov), 2-109 (Devon Conway-12.1 ov), 3-194 (Shivam Dube-17.3 ov), 4-232 (Ravindra Jadeja-19.4 ov)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 186-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Sunil Narine-0.4 ov), 2-1 (Narayan Jagadeesan-1.2 ov), 3-46 (Venkatesh Iyer-7.1 ov), 4-70 (Nitish Rana-8.2 ov), 5-135 (Jason Roy-14.3 ov), 6-162 (Andre Russell-16.4 ov), 7-171 (David Wiese-17.3 ov), 8-180 (Umesh Yadav-18.3 ov)

Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Narayan Jagadeesan (wicket-keeper), Jason Roy, Nitish Rana (captain), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Suyash Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy; Subs: Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das

Impact player: Venkatesh Iyer for Suyash Sharma (2nd innings, 0.4 ov)

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (captain & wicket-keeper), Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana; Subs: Akash Singh, Dwaine Pretorius, Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Subhranshu Senapati

Impact player: Akash Singh for Ambati Rayudu (1st innings, 19.6 ov)

Match Details

Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to field
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Nitin Menon, Tapan Sharma (On-field Umpires); Virender Sharma (TV Umpire); Abhijit Bengeri (Reserve Umpire); Shakti Singh (Match-referee)