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Ajinkya Rahane, Devon Conway and Shivam Dube’s power-packed half-centuries catapulted Chennai Super Kings to a comprehensive 49–run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Asked to bat, CSK erected the season’s highest total of 235 for four, featuring 18 sixes, and restricted KKR to 186 for eight for its third successive and overall fifth win.
Conway, who began from where he had left off in Chennai and scored his fourth consecutive half-century, did not miss CSK’s home at the Eden, which witnessed a considerable presence of yellow shirts and chanting of ‘CSK, CSK’ and ‘Dhoni, Dhoni.’
Displaying his superb placement and range of shots, Conway (56, 40b, 4×4, 3×6), let off on 0 by David Wiese off his own bowling, was fluent on both sides while forming a 73-run opening partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who played a fine knock (35, 20b, 2×4, 3×6).
Suyash Sharma, who kept it tight and mixed his deliveries nicely, foxed Gaikwad to break the stand and Varun Chakravarthy claimed Conway, who drove to long-off.
Rahane (71 n.o., 29b, 6×4, 5×6) and the big-hitting Dube (50, 21b, 2×4, 5×6) carried on to add 85 and piled more misery on KKR.
Rahane, who pulled impressively and played some cheeky scoops, and Dube, who hit spectacular sixes including three straight ones, got to their second fifties in the 18th over.
Eden was thrilled to see Rahane, who hammered two sixes and a four successively off Umesh Yadav and two sixes and a four consecutively off Varun, manifesting rare aggression and M.S. Dhoni, who made a brief appearance.
In reply, KKR, which lost four wickets for 70, didn’t get a good start and suffered its fourth consecutive loss. Jason Roy, hurt during fielding, came in at No.5 to play a breezy innings (61, 26b, 5×4, 5×6) and gather 65 with a defiant Rinku Singh (53 n.o., 33b, 3×4, 4×6) in a lost cause.
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