Jadeja's late cameo steers CSK to victory against Kolkata

The wicket at Eden Garden was on the slower-side and it was also a square turner. Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders had quality spinners in their squad. Kolkata had selected the perfect XI for the conditions. However, Knight Riders’ batsman didn’t give their bowlers enough runs to defend as Ravindra Jadeja took the Chennai Super Kings to a thrilling four-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat at a critical situation of the match when the required rate was more than 9.00 runs per over. He batted cleverly against Narine and didn’t feel the pressure. When Hussey was dismissed at the end of the 17th over, Super Kings required 31 runs off 18 balls. Jadeja batted brilliantly and clobbered Sunil Narine for 14 runs and Kallis for 15 runs, to bring down the equation to 2 runs off 6 balls.

The run chase looked bit scratchy as the Super Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Interestingly, Ashwin opened the innings with Mike Hussey. He and Hussey started the chase confidently as the duo put on a wonderful partnership of 24 runs, before Sunil Narine grabbed the wicket of Ashwin for 11. Murali Vijay found his form at the right moment against the Daredevils, but failed to replicate the same against the Knight Riders as he was trapped in front for 2.

Suresh Raina batted brilliantly against the Daredevils, but didn’t fancy the slowness of the wicket as he was dismissed for 7, leaving the Super Kings reeling at 40/3. Mahendra Singh Dhoni soon followed Raina as he was unfortunately run out for 5. Ravindra Jadeja, once again, steered the game for Chennai with some massive sixes towards the end of the innings.

Kolkata Knight Riders spinners Narine and Senanayake exploited the conditions and wicket as they kept a check on the run-flow. Super Kings batsmen were not able to rotate the strike as Narine and Senanayake maintained a tight line and length and did not give enough room to the batsmen.

Kolkata Knight Riders would have hoped for a better batting performance as they slumped from 46/0 to 119 runs off 20 overs. Gautam Gambhir started the innings with a beautiful boundary towards the third man region. Kolkata exploited the Power Play perfectly as they scored 46/1 within the first six overs. After the wicket off Gambhir (25), Kolkata Knight Riders tumbled as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Chennai Super Kings had a brilliant day in the field as they inflicted a couple of run-outs. Ashwin and Jadeja kept the pressure on the Knight Riders batsmen. However, they had a good partnership of 27 runs between Tiwary and Das. However, they couldn’t build on the partnership as the ball was gripping the surface. Also, the wicket started to slow down after the first 10 overs. The ball was really gripping off the surface and that is why KKR tailenders couldn’t take the aerial route towards the end of the innings.

Chennai Super Kings play their next game against Rajasthan Royals on April 22, while Kolkata Knight Riders play their next game against Mumbai Indians on April 24.

Chennai Super Kings 124 for 6 (Hussey 40, Jadeja 36*) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 119 for 9 (Jadeja 3-20, Ashwin 2-21) by 4 wickets.

For scorecard and ball by ball details, click here.