KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said his team did a solid job with the ball, especially after CSK came out swinging and piled up about 70 runs in the powerplay. On a flat batting pitch, holding them to 192 felt like a real win for the bowlers. But once it came time to chase, KKR just couldn’t keep up. They stumbled out of the gate, only managing around 36 runs in their own powerplay, and then found themselves stuck against the spinners. Rahane pointed out that if just one player had managed to stick around and anchor the chase, things could’ve turned out very differently.
Chennai Super Kings ended up winning comfortably by 32 runs in front of their home crowd. After the game, Rahane admitted that KKR tried to stick with a settled lineup, but the string of losses has made things complicated. He said the main thing now is to stay positive and work as a group, but also to rethink the combinations if things aren’t working. Winning makes everything easier, but when losses pile up, you have to consider changes.
Right now, KKR is still looking for their first win of the season. Four losses and one washed-out match has left them at the bottom of the points table. CSK, on the other hand, jumped up to eighth place after notching up this victory.
As for the match itself, CSK set the tone by posting 192/5. Samson chipped in with an aggressive 48, Brevis smashed 41, and Kartik Tyagi took a couple of important wickets. When KKR replied, they stumbled to 29/2 before Rahane and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi put together a 50-run partnership. But just as things started to look up, Noor Ahmad ripped through the middle order, and KKR crumbled to 90/6. They eventually limped to 160/7, falling well short in the chase.
