Dubai: MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 6 wickets in the 49th match of the Indian Premier League 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
CSK won the toss and opted to field first against KKR. Invited to bat first, Kolkata got off to a good start, with openers Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana, made 53 runs before Shubman Gill (26 off 17 balls) falling to Karn Sharma. Rana scored 87 off 61 balls with the help of 10 fours and 4 sixes. Dinesh Karthik scored quick 21 off 10 balls in the death overs after Rana’s dismissal and the team put up 172 on the scoreboard.
Chasing a total of 173, Chennai got off to a steady start, with openers Shane Watson and Ruturaj Gaikwad bringing up 50-run stand in the eighth over of the match. Shane Watson was out after scoring 14 runs in 19 balls. But Rituraj Gaikwad scored a brilliant 72 runs in 53 balls. Ambati Rayudu scored 38 runs in 20 balls, and Sam Curran scored 13 runs in 14 balls. Ravindra Jadeja, who came after this, changed the stand of the match and made 31 runs from 11 balls to lead the team to victory.
Kolkata will have to win its remaining fixture and then rely on the results of other franchises to qualify for the playoffs. Despite the defeat, Chennai sit at the bottom of the points table and are officially knocked out of the playoffs race.