By: Aditya Ahuja
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja made maximum use of the sticky Chennai wicket as the Super Kings returned to winning form, comfortably outclassing the Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on Monday.
This win marks CSK’s third victory in five games, all of which have been on their home ground, having lost the last two away matches.
Jadeja, who hasn’t been too reliable as a bowler lately, took three wickets in a space of eight deliveries to dismantle KKR, who posted a modest total of 137 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Fast bowlers Tushar Despande and Mustafizur Rahman also made complete use of the surface by taking the pace off the ball, making hitting difficult for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. The two shared five wickets between them.
Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad made the chase look easy by not trying to do anything fancy and just holding one end, while other batters batted freely around him.
Daryl Mitchell (25 off 19 balls) and the in-form Shivam Dube (28 off 18 balls) helped CSK reach the target with 14 balls to spare.
Jadeja was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for his impressive 3-wicket haul.
Brief score: Kolkata Knight Riders 137/9 in 20 overs (Shreyas lyer 34, Sunil Narine 27) vs Chennai Super Kings 141/3 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 67, Shivam Dube 28; Vaibhav Arora 2-28).