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Chennai S uper Kings handed the Kolkata Knight Riders their first defeat of IPL 2024 on the back of a brilliant all-round effort with top performances from Ravindra Jadeja and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. This victory also got Chennai back to winning ways as the five-time champions had suffered two back-to-back losses against the Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After winning the toss, Chennai asked the Knight Riders to bat first and drew first blood as Tushar Deshpande dismissed Phil Salt on the first ball of the match. Then KKR got back on track with Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi posted a 50-run stand through the powerplay.
But after the first six overs, Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc with the ball and dismissed Raghuvanshi and Narine in quick succession. He then got out Venkatesh Iyer before finishing his spell with figures of 3-18. Supporting Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande and Mustafizur Rahman combined to pick up five wickets in eight overs. For KKR, Shreyas Iyer top-scored with a sluggish 34 in 32 balls with three fours.
In the second innings, Chennai had a great start with Rachin Ravindra hitting three boundaries before getting out at 15. Then, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell stitched up a vital 70-run stand before the Kiwi all-rounder was cleaned up by Sunil Narine. But holding up one end, Gaikwad comfortably batted and completed his first half-century of the season.
Shivam Dube also hit a quick-fire 18-ball 28 with three sixes and one four before Gaikwad, not out at a 58-ball 67, finished the game and helped CSK register a comfortable seven-wicket win.
