Former teammates MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir embraced warmly after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The match ended on April 8, with CSK winning decisively by seven wickets.
Batting first, KKR struggled to score runs, managing a modest total of 137/9 in their allotted 20 overs. CSK’s bowlers were disciplined, restricting KKR’s batters. In response, Chennai’s batsmen played composed knocks, chasing down the target comfortably at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The home team bowlers seized advantage of the sluggish pitch. They troubled opposition batters relentlessly. KKR batters struggled to adapt, floundering against Jadeja (3/18), Deshpande (3/33), Rahman (2/22).
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 67 runs guided CSK to their target. Daryl Mitchell and Shivam Dube aided with solid knocks. With steady batting, the chase was accomplished smoothly.
MS Dhoni strode in late but remained not out as Ruturaj sealed victory with a boundary in the 18th over. Post-match, Gautam Gambhir, KKR’s mentor, embraced MS Dhoni warmly, both smiling.
Witness this special moment captured in the video below:
KKR Skipper Shreyas Iyer Reflects on Defeat to CSK
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer admitted after the match that they made two crucial mistakes. First, our team did not properly evaluate the pitch conditions. Second, we could not build on the promising start during the powerplay overs. Examining the defeat, Iyer said:
“I personally feel, we didn’t assess it well, phenomenal start but couldn’t capitalise and lost the way in the end, it wasn’t easy scoring runs on this wicket. They know the conditions pretty well, bowled according to the plan, it was a bit tacky, it wasn’t easy for the batters to go from ball one. It changed tremendously after powerplay, but our plans couldn’t go according to it. The wicket changed after powerplay.”
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer continued:
“From the start we got, we thought 160 or 170 would’ve been good and even when they played against RCB, it was similar conditions but when you lose your way, it’s difficult to come back. We have to go back to drawing board and see where we went wrong. We will introspect to come back hard. We know our home conditions better than anyone, we need to stick to our plans, analyse and make the best use of it.”
Shreyas Iyer
KKR will next face LSG in the afternoon on April 14, while CSK will face MI in the night encounter.