IPL 2015, KKR vs CSK Highlights: Uthappa- Russell Fifties Power Knight Riders to 7-Wicket Win over Super Kings
Kolkata Knight Riders handed a 7-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens tonight. Unbeaten fifties from Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell saw Kolkata through against MS Dhoni's men in yellow. Catch all the highlights here.
A fantastic partnership between Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell saw Kolkata Knight Riders avenge their earlier defeat against the Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens. Chasing 166 to win, Kolkata lost a few wickets up-front but unbeaten fifties from Russell and Uthappa too the men in purple across the line.
Earlier, a stunning spell from Brad Hogg saw Knight Riders restrict Chennai to a gettable 165/9. Hogg, the 44-year-old turns the game on its head by picking up four wickets. McCullum was the only Super Kings batsman who scored at a speed of knots.
Catch all the highlights here: (LIVE SCORECARD | Points Table | Fixtures | Photos | Videos)
(All times in IST)
23:38: FOUR! That's it! KKR avenges defeat, beats CSK by 7 wickets in a fantastic chase.
23:37: Single down the ground. Scored level.
23:36: Driven down the ground, gets two. 2 off 4 needed for KKR. More doing a fair job here.
23:35: Yorker another single. 4 off 4.
23:34: More to bowl it. Single to Uthappa. 5 off 5 now.
23:33: Mohit Sharma bowls a peach of an over here. Russell kept swinging, Russell kept missing. A bit of jitters as KKR now need 6 runs off 6 balls.
23:28: FOUR! Full toss and whacked over cover by Uthappa. Too easy for KKR! 7 runs from 10 balls now.
23:22: SIX more! Bigger and better! Brings up his fifty as well!
23:21: SIX! Slower delivery from Bravo but doesn't matter, Russell sends it sailing into the crowd! What a hit that is!
23:15: The game is safely in KKR's grasp. All they need is Russell and Uthappa to finish it off. 34 runs from 24 balls should be a cakewalk with 7 wickets in hand.
23:12: FOUR! SIX! Russell has taken off. Jadeja suffering. CSK needs wickets, now.
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23:08: SIX! FOUR! FOUR! 14th IPL fifty for Uthappa. Turning the game KKR's way!
23:06: 63 runs needed off 36 balls. This match is getting close and right now is nicely poised. A wicket here and there might do the trick!
23:03: FOUR more! Slashes hard and the ball flies off the edge.
23:02: FOUR! Bravo goes short and Russell cuts him to the point boundary.
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22:57: Uthappa is angry, very angry. Jadeja rushing through his overs and Uthappa doesn't like it. Gets into a tiff there. Even has a angry word to MS Dhoni.
22:55: FOUR! Russell cutting loose. Swings and swings hard.
22:53: SIX! Flat bat and bang! Russell tonks Negi over covers. 75/3 (11)overs
22:47: OUT! Surya (2) gives More his first IPL wicket! Tries to flick on the on side and gets caught by Bravo at third-man. Bizarre shot from Surya! KKR 57/3 (9.1 overs)
22:44: Oh! Miss stumping! MS Dhoni fails to gather the ball. Uthappa dances down the track and Negi beats him in flight. Dhoni makes a mess off it!
22:40: OUT! Manish Pandey (3) hits a long-hop from Negi straight to Jadeja at deep square leg. He would be devastated at that, should have hit that for a boundary but he couldn't have picked out the fielder better! KKR 54/2 (8.2 over)
22:34: FOUR! More into the attack and delivers a rank bad ball, sliding down the leg and Uthappa clips it to the fence.
22:33: Bit of a lull in the game. Spin introduced and Uthappa is looking to be cautious.
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22:25: Dropped! Uthappa completely deceived by Nehra, hits it straight, gets a hand but again, too tough on a follow through.
22:20: OUT! Complete miscue. Tried to go over square-leg, Gambhir (19) gets a leading edge and is caught at third man by More off Mohit Sharma. KKR 33/1
Spin 61/5 in ten overs & 104/4 in the remaining 10 for #KKR expect 12 overs of spin from #CSK. GG's exit means Left-Arm spin can operate!
- Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 30, 2015
22:17: SIX! Nehra goes to the cleaners. Gambhir comes down the track and whacks the left-armer over mid-wicket.
22:15: FOUR! Uthappa walks down the track and delivers a tennis forehand over mid-off.
22:13: SIX! Slightly short and Gambhir picks it and deposits it over the mid-wicket fence. Top shot that! KKR 21/0 after 3 overs.
22:11: DROPPED! Hit back hard at the bowler. Mohit Sharma gets a hand to it on his follow through but tough one to hold on to.
22:05: No boundaries from the Nehra over. A bit of playing and missing from Gambhir but still gets seven runs from it.
21:57: FOUR! Uthappa off the mark with a wristy flick through mid-wicket. 6/0 after 1st over.
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Hoggy - 44 years young & he's still got it!!! #KKR #IPL #KKRvCSK @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/oxxIYNhfrC
- Perth Scorchers (@ScorchersBBL) April 30, 2015
21:43: That's it. Super Kings finish with 165/9. They looked good for a lot more but Brad Hogg spun his wen to spoil their party. Can the Knight Riders chase down 166?
21:38: OUT! Mohit Sharma gone for a duck! Russell deceives him first ball of the last over.
21:27: BOWLED! Negi (27) undone by that man....Hogg again! CSK 160/8 (18.5 overs)
21:36: SIX! Negi into the act, again!
21:35: OUT! Hogg gets his third. Jadeja (24) caught at deep square-leg. CSK 154/7 (18.3 overs)
21:30: FOUR! Take that for a shot! Short and a tennis forehand over mid-wicket. CSK 153/6 after 18 overs.
21:29: FOUR more! Short and pulled away in-front of square leg by Negi. Cummins giving away important runs these.
21:29: FOUR! Down the leg side and a fine tickle of the pads gets another boundary.
21:28: FOUR! Pitched up by Cummins and smashed over covers by Negi. One bounce and into the fence.
21:24: BOWLED! How slow was that? Bravo (30) fails to pick the slower from Russell, plays a false shot and ends up losing his off-bail! CSK 129/6 (16.3 overs)
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21:18: DROPPED! Bravo miscues the pull off Cummins. Gambhir ran backwards and honestly, never looked like catching it.
21:15: FOUR! Edge from Bravo spoils Russell's good work. CSK 121/5 after 15 overs.
21:11: SIX! Jadeja goes big. Slog sweep and over wide long it goes!
21:10: FOUR! Stand and deliver from Bravo! Pitched up from Hogg and smashed back down the ground.
21:05: A few quiet overs for CSK after the mayhem. KKR bowling the correct lines and Bravo and Jadeja looking to consolidate. CSK 104/5 after 13 overs.
20:56: FOUR! Brilliantly played by Bravo in the end. That one turned a square-mile from Chawla and the West Indian somehow edges it down to third-man.
20:55: Bravo and Jadeja need to get a partnership going. 88/5 after 10 overs, KKR would be very happy with the last five overs.
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. @BCCI, @IPL and @KKRiders pay tribute to Ankit Keshri #IPL pic.twitter.com/FjdA8693X5
- IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2015
20:48: Turn, bounce, beaten - the pitch definitely is assisting the wrist spinners of the KKR. How big a miss Ashwin would be for the CSK tonight?
20:45: FOUR! Jadeja rocks back and pulls Hogg through mid-wicket. The Super Kings needs runs here, their strategy of 'going hell for leather' seems to be backfiring against Brad Hogg's skills.
Piyush Chawla now 103 #IPL wkts. But first time he is claiming MS Dhoni's wicket! #KKRvsCSK
- Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 30, 2015
20:41: BOWLED! Dhoni gone (1), Chawla foxes him with a googly! Dhoni knew nothing about that one, through bat and pad. Super Kings crumbling here. CSK 72/5 (6.5 overs)
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20:34: Stumped! Du Plessis (20) goes down the track and Hogg gets two in the over! What an over from the 44-year-old! Brad 'Hogg'-ing the limelight at the Eden Gardens! CSK 69/4 (5.5 overs)
20:30: OUT! McCullum (32) trapped in front by Hogg, first ball! Quicker delivery, goes for the pull, misses it and bingo! Right in front of the stumps! The wily old fox has done it for KKR! CSK 64/3 (5.1 overs)
20:26: FOUR more! McCullum this time! Down on one knee and lofted over covers.
20:25: FOUR again! Same delivery, same shot, same result!
20:24: FOUR! Welcome to the crease Chawla! Floated outside off and Du Plessis goes over covers inside-out.
20:23: 50 up for CSK in 4 overs! This is a hurricane start! They might have lost two wickets but McCullum is bringing the house down at the Eden Gardens.
20:18: OUT! One shot too many - Raina (8) chips Umesh straight to Chawla at mid-on. CSK 43/2 (3.3)
20:17: FOUR! Pulled away by Raina. It's raining boundaries at the Eden Gardens!
20:15: SIX! McSlogga is on fire! Backs and whacks Cummins into the stands! CSK 39/1 after 3 overs
20:14: FOUR! FOUR! McCullum is taking on Cummins - faster he bowls,. faster he disappears!
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20:08: FOUR! Raina joins the party! First ball from Yadav and Raina creams it through covers. Top shot!
20:06: SIX! Even bigger! Pitched up by Cummins and McCullum smashes him over long-off. Phew! This is some action-packed first over! 19/1 after 1st over.
20:04: SIX! Room outside off stump and McCullum throws his hands at it. Sails over covers! This match is off to a thrilling start!
20:00: OUT! First ball! Smith (0) caught sensationally at covers by Ten Doeschate off Cumming. What a start! That's a Jonty Rhodes special from Tendo! Whoa!
19:40: Here are a couple of things about the debutant Ronit More - Ronit More is a 21-year-old right-arm medium-pacer from Karnataka. The youngster picked up six wickets in his very first match for Karnataka recording the best limited-overs debut in Indian domestic cricket.
Ronit More 6.3-1-18-6 on his ListA debut for Karnataka v Goa at Bangalore Feb 2012 Today is the 58th #CSK player to debut in #IPL #KKRvsCSK
- Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 30, 2015
19:30: Toss time - Gambhir calls it right and opts to bowl first. No Ashwin and Pandey for CSK. Negi gets a look in and Ronit More makes his IPL debut.
Our SuperXI: Smith, Baz, S Raina, Faf, MSD, Bravo, Sir, Negi, Mohit, R More, Nehra #whistlepodu #CSKvsKKR #IdhuNammaSeason
- Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 30, 2015
Here's today's playing eleven! #KKRvsCSK #Go4More #KKR pic.twitter.com/CqXF4Xp5Zi
- KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 30, 2015
18:40: Here are all the stats you need to know about Chennai Super Kings.
The numbers so far! Let's rock it to(k)night! #CSKvKKR #whistlepodu #IdhuNammaSeason Infographics: @SportsMechanics pic.twitter.com/ecZ2QiCvNY
- Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 30, 2015
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Kolkata Knight Riders have looked far from the defending champions that they are. They have had their issues. For one, their strong batting line-up has not fired, barring the consistent Gautam Gambhir. His opening partner Robin Uthappa has had a mediocre season so far - but he has come into IPL 8 on the back of big runs in the domestic season, so he's not completely out of form. Maybe like so many others, he's one good knock away from stamping his class on the tournament. (KKR - a Successful Sports Franchise)
A bigger concern for KKR would be their wobbly middle-order. Sudden collapses have rendered an otherwise good team very ineffective. The likes of Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Yusuf Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav need to step up and chip in more consistently. (Ridiculous to Stop an Off-Spinner From Bowling Off-Breaks, says Andy Roberts)
KKR's biggest concern however, has been the bowling, which has now suffered a further setback with the off-spinning ban on Sunil Narine. But they have the wherewithal to replace the West Indies mystery spinner.
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Chennai Super Kings meanwhile, have been on a roll. The southern Indian giants have won six and lost only one of their seven matches. That has assured them a top spot as of now but it could get dodgy.
KKR need to win to be able to go past Rajasthan Royals. Chennai have serious arsenal in their batting line-up. Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo. The bowling is equally strong with Ashish Nehra, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Tough ask to beat a team like that. (Ashwin Suffers Hand Injury)
But KKR are not at all poorly balanced on paper and it should be a cracker of a match if the two sides get their acts together. Rain could of course play spoilsport and there is a chance the match maybe washed out altogether.