Twitter Reactions: Spin, middle-order batting make the difference as KKR breach Super Kings’ fortress

The action continued in IPL 2023 as Chennai Super Kings took on Kolkata Knight Riders in match No. 61 on Sunday, May 14, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first, and openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway added 31 runs for the first wicket in 21 balls. The partnership was broken as Gaikwad lost his wicket to Varun Chakravarthy.

Ajinkya Rahane walked in at number three and got involved in a 30-run stand with Conway before Chakravarthy dismissed him as well for 16(11). Conway also followed him nine balls later and lost his wicket while trying to go for a big one against Shardul Thakur in the tenth over.

Sunil Narine further piled on the misery for CSK by cleaning up Ambati Rayudu (4 off 7) and Moeen Ali (1 off 2) in the 11th over to leave CSK reeling at 72/5 after 11 overs. Seeing their side in trouble, Shivam Dube (48* off 34) and Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 24) got involved in a 68-run stand off 50 balls to help CSK cross the 140-run mark.

MS Dhoni walked to the crease after Jadeja’s dismissal in the 20th over but could only manage to score two off three balls as CSK finished their innings on 144/6 at the end of their allotted 20 overs. Sunil Narine (2/15) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/36) were the pick of the bowlers for KKR with two wickets each.

Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh keep KKR alive in the tournament

In reply, KKR got off to the worst possible start as they lost their opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over, who got out to Deepak Chahar. The right-arm seamer further got the big scalps of Venkatesh Iyer (9 off 4) and Jason Roy (12 off 15) in the third and fifth over, respectively, to leave KKR at 38/3 after five overs.

After three early wickets, captain Nitish Rana (57* off 44) and Rinku Singh (54 off 43) got involved in a massive 99-run stand off 76 balls to take their team closer to victory. Rinku Singh got dismissed due to an unfortunate run-out in the 18th over, however, captain Nitish Rana batted till the end and took his team home in the 19th. As a result, KKR chased down the target of 145 in 18.3 overs and stayed alive in the raise for the playoffs. Deepak Chahar was the pick of the bowlers for CSK with his spell of 3/27 in three overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to KKR’s stunning victory: