Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, Indian Premier League 2020 Match 21: In Pics

In the end it was a fantastic bowling effort from KKR which powered them to their third victory of the tournament. Rahul Tripathi set the tone early on with his brilliant 81, which took KKR to a competitive 167 on a difficult slow track in Abu Dhabi.

Then it was the turn of the bowlers to defend the somewhat low total. Watson and Rayudu threatened to take the game away on their own at one stage but KKR bowlers fought with all their heart.

What KKR did well was to ensure that CSK batsmen never take game by the scruff of the neck. Their pacers Cummins, Mavi and Nagarkoti ensured that they atleast bowl economically if they can't get hold of the wickets. 

The spinners Narine and Chakravarthy then got into the act with good company from Andre Russell to complete the victory.

Rahul Tripathi was awarded the man of the match. (Image Credits: Twitter/@KKRiders)

It was a startling turnaround from the KKR bowlers with Sunil Narine's dismissal of Shane Watson sinking the CSK ship. Karthik did well to finish off Cummins overs early. He returned figures of 4-0-25-0. 

Nagarkoti did well in the middle overs and picked up the important wicket of the set Rayudu after Mavi had dismissed Du Plessis early. Then it was the turn of the spinners - Sunil Narine (4-0-31-1) and Varun Chakravarthy (4-0-28-1) bowled wonderfully to keep the CSK batsmen under pressure. 

Bowling at the death, Andre Russell gave away just 18 runs from his two overs to complete KKR's victory.

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Rayudu got out to Nagarkoti after playing a rash shot. Sunil Narine was brought late into the attack by Karthik with a huge task ahead of him. He showcased his quality by removing Watson leg before wicket on just the seventh ball of his spell. Watson was well set, having completed his fifty, and was threatining to take his side to a huge victory. His dismissal changed the tide completely with KKR tightening the screws on the CSK batsmen. 

Dhoni promoted himself up the order but couldn't do much as he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy for just 11 off 12 balls.  (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

After Du Plessis was dismissed early, Watson carried on. He carried his momentum from the previous game. He hanged back in the crease and pulled anything that was short. Watson made 50 off 40 balls (4x6, 6x1). He was given good company in the middle by Rayudu (30 off 27 balls). The duo stitched a brilliant 69-run stand for the second wicket to put CSK in control of the game.  (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Faf du Plessis fell short of the Orange Cap by just 3 runs. KL Rahul was occupying the top spot with 302 runs from 5 matches. Du Plessis started the game at 282 runs and in the second spot but was dismissed for just 17 runs in the innings. 

Faf du Plessis tried to go over the top of the offside infield but could only muster a thick edge which Karthik accepted. Du Plessis and Watson still added 30 runs for the opening wicket. 

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

KKR looked like running away with the game in the early stages with Rahul Tripathi on song with the bat. But leggie Karn Sharma, brought in place of Piyush Chawla, justified his inclusion with a brilliant spell of 4-0-25-2. He kept things tight in the middle, not allowing KKR batsmen to get going. 

While bday boy Dwayne Bravo picked-up three, Sam Curran and Shardul Thakur racked-up two wickets apiece to complete a fine bowling effort. All of them combined well turn the screw on KKR batsmen who got off the blocks. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Dwayne Bravo, celebrated his 37th Bday on the field with three important wickets. He returned with a spell of 4-0-37-3 while bowling the difficult overs in the middle. He bowled the last over of the innings and gave away just 5 runs and picked up two wickets. The over put CSK in command against KKR. In the final over, there was another run out - so Bravo's final over saw a total of three wickets. 

A fitting bday to the West Indian, who also completed 150 wickets in the IPL. 

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Sunil Narine in his new role was sent at the number four position to up the ante. In the 11th over, Narine tried to go big against leggie Karn Sharma but failed to middle it. The ball would have still reached the boundary but Ravindra Jadeja had other ideas. Just short of the boundary line, he dived to take a wonderful catch but as he was about to touch the boundary, he handed the ball to Faf du Plessis, who completed the catch. The catch thus went in Du Plessis name. Jadeja again justified himself as one of the best fielders in the world.

Narine was looking dangerous in his short stay, scoring 17 off 9 balls but was sent back before he could do some more damage. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

After Shubman Gill's wicket, Rahul Tripathi (81 off 51 balls; 4x8, 6x3) continued to go strong and was only dismissed in the 17th over  . He was timing it beautifully right from the onset and reached his fifty in no time. KKR's decision to open the batting with Tripathi was paying dividends. He set-up a rapid 37-run opening stand with Gill and then kept going at it. He ensured that he didn't take any undue risk early on and then threw the kitchen sink at it once he was set. 

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Shardul Thakur dismissed Shubman Gill caught behind to give CSK the opening breakthrough in the fifth over. Gill had tried to go for a pull over the top of infield against Thakur but the ball took a thick inside edge and Dhoni completed the catch. Gill made 11 form 12 balls. Gill who was in good form, failed to get going in the game.

The duo of Tripathi and Gill still gave a good start to KKR with a 37-run partnership. 

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bat against CSK. Chennai Super Kings made one change - They brought in leg-spinner Karn Sharma in place of another leggie Piyush Chawla. Though, CSK had romped to a 10-wicket victory against KXIP in their last outing, the change was expected. Chawla had leaked a lot of runs so far in the competition. (Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bat first. KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik announced that KKR will be playing with the same XI. This came as a surprise to the fans considering the fact that they had lost out to Delhi Capitals in their last outing - Capitals had scored 228 runs against them and a few bowling changes were expected for this contest. 

(Image Credits: Twitter/@IPL)