IPL 2019: Faf du Plessis and Deepak Chahar star as CSK thump KKR by seven wickets to go top

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  • Faf du Plessis. Image: IPL/Twitter.

    Defending champions Chennai Super Kings went back to the top of the 2019 Indian Premier League standings (IPL) with a seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

    Both teams had come into the clash on the back of four wins apiece from their five games but it was MS Dhoni and his men who emerged triumphant on another slow deck at the Chepauk stadium.

    Pacer Deepak Chahar along with spinners Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir starred with the ball to restrict Kolkata to just 108-9 in their 20 overs. Only all-rounder Andre Russell was able to have any impact with the bat for the visitors with his unbeaten half-century helping them breach the 100-run mark.

    In reply, Chennai chased down the target with 16 balls to spare with Faf du Plessis leading the charge with an unbeaten 43.

    DU PLESSIS SEES CHENNAI HOME ON SLUGGISH PITCH

    A total of just 108 was always going to be under par for Kolkata but they did initially make a fist of it with Sunil Narine dismissing Shane Watson and Suresh Raina inside the powerplay. However, the hosts regrouped through a 46-run stand between Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu who batted cautiously against the KKR spinners.

    The South African batsman continued to build on his half-century in the last match in a crucial anchoring role even as Rayudu fell to Piyush Chawla in the 15th over of the chase.

    The Proteas veteran kept a cool head and finished off things comfortably in the company of Kedar Jadhav with what was a thoroughly professional 45-ball 43.

    CHAHAR GIVES CSK ELECTRIC START

    Keeping the evening dew in mind, MS Dhoni elected to field first and the Chennai skipper was given a roaring start with the ball by his seamer Deepak Chahar.

    Kolkata’s openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn had added 91 runs between them against Rajasthan just a couple of days ago but they could only muster a combined six runs at Chennai with Chahar and Harbhajan Singh striking early.

    Chahar pinned Lynn on the pads in the very first over before he completed an excellent catch off the bowling of Harbhajan to send back the dangerous Narine. The Chennai seamer made it two wickets for himself in as many overs when he had Nitish Rana caught at midwicket before he also dismissed Robin Uthappa in his third over to reduce Kolkata to 24-4.

    HARBHAJAN, TAHIR CHOKE KKR

    After Chahar had done the initial damage with his pace, it was an all-out spin attack by the hosts subsequently with Kolkata’s batsmen tumbling one by one.

    Veteran spinners Harbhajan and Tahir had been excellent for Chennai in the previous matches, especially at home, and they continued that form by cleverly mixing up their bowling speeds on a slow surface.

    Harbhajan added the wicket of Piyush Chawla to go with that of Narine while the wily Tahir spun a web around Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill to end their stays. The South African leggie could have had a third in the form of Russell had Harbhajan not put down a sitter. The Windies all-rounder waged a lone battle henceforth with a fighting fifty but the Tahir-Harbhajan combo had seen Kolkata’s runs dry up significantly and that ultimately proved to be costly.

    BRIEF SCORES

    Kolkata Knight Riders: 108-9

    Andre Russell: 50 not out (44)

    Deepak Chahar: 3-20

    Chennai Super Kings: 111-3

    Faf du Plessis: 43 not out (45)

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