KKR captain Nitish Rana and his teammates fined for breaching the IPL code of conduct against CSK

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Nitish Rana and his teammates received a fine for breaching the IPL code of conduct during the fixture against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday, May 14, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

They had to face the penalty as they maintained a slow over-rate during the first innings last night while they were bowling. The IPL's official media advisory on the matter read:

"Kolkata Knight Riders Captain Nitish Rana has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 14, 2023."

It was the second instance of maintaining a slow over rate for KKR, as they were previously fined for the same last week in the match against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens. Due to the same, Nitish Rana was fined 24 lakhs this time, and his teammates received a fine of 25% match fee or six lakhs (minimum one from the two).

The statement continued:

"As it was his team’s second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Mr. Rana has been fined Rs. 24 lakh and each member of the Playing XI, including the impact substitute, is fined Rs. 6 lakh or 25 percent of the match fee, whichever is lesser."

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Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh power KKR to a comfortable win against CSK in IPL 2023

CSK batted first in the contest on Sunday night after winning the toss. They could only reach 144/6 after their batters struggled against KKR spinners. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy starred for the visiting side in the bowling department as they scalped two wickets apiece.

KKR then got off to a poor start in the tricky chase as Chennai pacer Deepak Chahar reduced them to 33/3 in 4.3 overs. Rinku Singh (54) and Nitish Rana (57*) joined hands at this juncture and stitched a sensible 99-run partnership to see their side home.

Rinku continued his great form in IPL 2023 by notching up yet another match-winning knock, which bagged him the Player of the Match award. Rana complemented him perfectly with a fluent half-century. Reflecting on the win after the match, he said:

"Rinku Singh and I just wanted to bat until the end. Home advantage is there with every team. For us, sometimes we have to score 220 odd and when the track changes we have to change the plan accordingly. I said at the toss too that if we do well in all three departments, the chances of getting those two points increase."

"I want to give credit to Chandu sir (Chandrakant Pandit) since I wasn't in favor of taking the heavy roller. I felt if the pitch crumbles because of it 140 (144) could be too much."

KKR will lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants in their final league fixture of IPL 2023 on May 20 in Kolkata.