Indian Premier League 2024

'Kon qualify hoga lol' - Fans react as KKR defeats CSK by 6 wickets to keep IPL 2023 playoff hopes alive

KKR defeated CSK at their fortress thanks to a superb fourth-wicket partnership from Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana.

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Akshay
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CSK vs KKR IPL 2023

CSK vs KKR IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

CSK vs KKR IPL 2023 CSK vs KKR IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) failed to win their final home match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated them by six wickets on Sunday, May 14. The KKR spinners bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and their pacers finished strongly to restrict the four-time champions to their lowest total of the season. KKR got off to a poor start in their 145-run chase, but held their nerve to cross the finish line with nine balls to spare.

The toss fell in favour of CSK skipper MS Dhoni who elected to bat first as he was a bit uncertain about the wicket. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway got off to a good start but could not capitalise as Varun Chakravarthy broke the 31-run partnership in the fourth over. The mystery spinner took his second wicket of the night by dismissing Ajinkya Rahane and the hosts soon lost the wicket of Conway.

Sunil Narine applied breaks in the middle overs and dismissed Ambati Rayudu and Moeen Ali for cheap runs. Shivam Dube smashed few boundaries and scored the highest run for his side (48 off 34) but the final two overs from Shardul Thakur and Vaibhav Arora restricted them to a below-par score of 144.

Nitish Rana-Rinku Singh partnership help KKR breach CSK's fortress

In reply, the visitors had a terrible start to their innings, losing three wickets in the powerplay. CSK pacer Deepak Chahar sent back Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer in each of his first three overs, giving his side a dream start. But that was only the start of an extraordinary chase led by KKR captain Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh, who completed their half-centuries in the process.

From a scoreboard reading of 33/3, the two left-handers shouldered the responsibilities and put on a match-winning partnership of 99 runs. Rinku was dismissed in the 18th over after reaching 57 off 43 balls, while Rana was unbeaten on 57 (44). The win helped KKR stay alive in the playoff race while CSK's chances of a top 2 finish dwindled.

Here's how fans reacted to KKR's win:ย 

CSK KKR IPL 2023