In a matter of four balls, Ravindra Jadeja turned the game on its head at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Sunday. With 24 needed from 10 balls, the all-rounder wreaked havoc on Prasidh Krishna with two sixes and two fours. Though Sunil Narine weaved magic in the final over, Deepak Chahar kept his cool and hit the winning run in the last ball.
Earlier in the match, Rahul Tripathi picked up from where he left off against Mumbai. He made a 33-ball 45, while Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell, too, added vital runs to the total. Shardul Thakur was Chennai’s standout bowler. He broke the quickfire stand between Venkatesh Iyer and Tripathi and ensured Andre Russell didn’t cause damage in the death overs.
The Chennai opening pair Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad registered their fifth 50-plus stand this season. All-rounders Jadeja and Moeen Ali made stellar contributions in the run chase.
Eventful powerplay
Kolkata, unchanged from the victory against Mumbai, had an eventful opening over. Shubman Gill struck successive fours, successfully overturned an lbw decision, and ran himself out. However, Iyer and the in-form Tripathi scored at a brisk pace. Curran thought he had Tripathi caught behind by MS Dhoni. But it was called a no-ball for height. In the final over of the powerplay, Iyer nicked one behind to the wicketkeeper.
Eoin Morgan lasted only 14 balls as Du Plessis took a relay catch to dismiss the England white-ball skipper. Tripathi continued to find runs, and Kolkata moved to 78/3 at the halfway stage of the innings. Two overs later, Jadeja cleaned up Tripathi. Russell joined Rana at the crease. The West Indies all-rounder struck two fours and a six off Curran. At the other end, Rana hit a maximum in Hazlewood’s over.
50 off 24 balls
Kolkata found themselves in a bother when Thakur grabbed Russell’s wicket. But Rana and Karthik kept finding the gaps in the death overs. Curran gave away 19 runs in his last over. The 11-ball 26 from Karthik and Rana’s unbeaten 37 lifted Kolkata to 171/6 in their 20 overs. Kolkata made 50 runs from the final four overs of the innings.
Openers dominate
Du Plessis and Gaikwad made a delightful start to the run chase. The duo managed to score at least a boundary in five of the six overs in the powerplay. Spinners Narine and Varun Chakravarthy were expensive as they combined conceded 23 runs in two overs. Meanwhile, the former South Africa skipper managed to find two fours in Lockie Ferguson’s second over. The 50 came before the end of the powerplay.
Gaikwad took Narine and Russell to the cleaners. However, he got a leading edge caught by Morgan. The openers stitched together 74. Moeen sent a low-toss from Ferguson to the boundary and punished a short ball for a six. Kolkata looked in control of the run chase. They added 11 runs off Russell’s second over and brought up the 100.
Twists & Turns
Prasidh claimed the wicket of Du Plessis, who holed out to Ferguson at deep point. Morgan threw the ball to Varun. He and Russell kept things tight and put some pressure back on Chennai. With 57 needed from six overs, Narine took the wicket of Ambati Rayudu for ten. They made 12 runs from the over despite losing a wicket.
Ferguson came to bowl his final over, with Chennai needing 40 runs from 24 balls. The New Zealand pacer gave nine runs off the over but ensured Moeen departed to the dressing room. The three-time winners remained favorites to win as Dhoni and Raina were at the crease. Chennai lost two wickets in the 18th over. Raina fell short running a second run, while Varun clean bowled Dhoni for 1.
Jadeja, you beauty
Chennai had to chase 26 off the last two overs. Two runs came in the first two balls. Jadeja smashed the third ball for a six and lofted the next delivery over long-on for another maximum. He cracked two consecutive fours too. The Chennai fans in the stadium were back on their feet.
The duty fell upon Narine to defend four runs in the final over. Curran tried to wrap up the game with a six but instead found substitute fielder Kamlesh Nagarkoti near the boundary line. As they couldn’t cross over, Shardul was on strike for the second delivery. He failed to make contact with the ball, and four needed from four balls. Jadeja was back on strike after Shardul ran three in the third ball. The spinner missed out on the fourth delivery and got trapped in front of the stumps in the penultimate delivery. He sent it upstairs, but it’s umpires call. Chahar played the final ball to midwicket and sealed the win for Chennai.
Kolkata 171/6 in 20 overs (R Tripathi 45, N Rana 37*; S Thakur 2/20, J Hazlewood 2/40)
Chennai 172/8 in 20 overs (F du Plessis 43, R Gaikwad 40, M Ali 32; S Narine 3/41)
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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