Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their 5th loss of the Indian Premier League 2023 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, April 23. To secure a convincing victory and take the top spot in the IPL 2023 points standings, CSK set a massive 236-run target for the home team and held them to a score of 186/8.
Meanwhile, the two-time champions, who are known to chase any target, failed to beat CSK as their star allrounder Andre Russel couldn’t live up to the expectations once again and departed after scoring just 9 runs. Russel has failed to produce anything special for the team in the 7 matches he has played so far in the season. However, after the match, a picture of him, in which he can be seen in utter disappointment, is getting viral on social media.
Chasing the big target of 235 runs, KKR had a very bad start and lost two wickets on the score of just 1 run. First Sunil Narine (0) was bowled by Akash Singh, and then the second opener N. Jagadeeshan (1) was dismissed by Tushar Deshpande. Impact player Venkatesh Iyer (20) also had a disappointing performance and was lbw by Moeen Ali.
After this, captain Nitish Rana lost his wicket, due to which Kolkata got into trouble. Ravindra Jadeja got Nitish Rana caught out by Rituraj Gaikwad. After falling for four wickets for 70 runs, Jason Roy and Rinku K Singh shared a 65-run partnership. While batting with a bang, Roy scored 61 runs in just 26 balls, which included five sixes and as many fours. Roy was bowled by spin bowler Maheesh Theekshana.
A brilliant all-round performance by CSK
After the fall of five wickets, KKR lagged far behind in the match. Russell was also dismissed, due to which it became impossible for KKR to reach the target. Rinku tried a lot to reduce the margin of loss by playing an unbeaten 53 off 33 balls, hitting four sixes and three fours. Deshpande and Theekshana dismissed two players each from KKR.
This was the fifth win of CSK in seven matches and are now came in first place in the points table. Rajasthan Royals are second and Lucknow Super Giants have slipped to number three. This was the fifth defeat of the Kolkata Knight Riders and they are at number eight.
Here's how fans reacted:
Mera toh itna life barbaad hogya pic.twitter.com/BXiovvVJSQ
— ɪɴꜱᴏᴍɴɪᴀᴄ♠️♥ (@iAbhiSaxena) April 23, 2023
Jab apko pta chala same Pathirana hai
— Kanishk Tyagi (@StoryTi01954762) April 23, 2023
"Kya itna buraaaaa, hu me maa..!" Had a face 😂😂
— Its Vishal 🔥 (@itzzvb) April 23, 2023
"Bole jo koyal baagon me"
— Hypotenuse (@Rishabh78030711) April 23, 2023
Sala shahrukh paise ka hisaab mangega to kya boluga?
— Harshit Agrawal (@Harshit58507511) April 23, 2023
Yeh melody itna Choclaty kyun hain???
— Dweep (@Dweep22073055) April 24, 2023
Isko chodo ye kkr Wale , 4 match se Rinku ko phasa de rahe , har baar aisi situation mein apne aap hi aage aa ja raha hai 🤣🤣🤣
— Rishabh (@Rishabhydv___) April 24, 2023
Are bhai mummy ne chane ki daal ki kha tha me harer ki le ayay
— Resmart ! (@Resmart12) April 23, 2023
Kala jaadu na chala 😭
— रणवीर सिंह Ranveer Singh (@AntiMlechh) April 23, 2023