Jadeja holds the nerve in flag-overs to guide Chennai, a 6-wickets victory over Kolkata. On Gaikwad's hard-fought knock, Chennai constructed the chase and Jadeja finished the match in style to spoil Kolkata's playoff hopes in Indian T20 League.
Toss: Chennai opted to bowl first
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Detailed Match Report
Kolkata off to a steady start before Karn Sharma strike in 8th over. In middle-overs, Kolkata lost Narine and Rinku Singh but Rana was in fine touch and he carried Kolkata’s hopes with a fine half-century. Before getting out in 18th over, Nitish Rana scored 61-balls 87. Dinesh Karthik played a short cameo of 10-balls 21 to power Kolkata to 172. Kolkata's entire innings was a big sign of their struggle in middle-overs.
Shane Watson and Ruturaj Gaikwad started the chase in a positive way. The duo added 50 runs for the opening wicket. Varun Chakravarthy picked Watson to give the first blow to Chennai. Rayudu joined Gaikwad and put 68 runs for the 2nd wicket. Gaikwad completed his yet another half-century. In 14th and 15th over, Kolkata struck twice with Rayudu and Dhoni’s wicket. Kolkata made a drastic comeback and Cummins got the wicket of Gaikwad in 18th over. This game was in favour of Kolkata but one no-ball from Ferguson made a big difference as Jadeja got 20 runs from the 19th over. Nagarkoti bowled the final over very well but Jadeja hold the nerve to guide Chennai home.
Star Performer of the Match
Nitish Rana is our star performer of the match, despite his team lost the match. He single-handily guided Kolkata to an imposing total of 172. He played sensible cricket and didn’t lose patience in middle-overs. He scored fine 87 off 61 balls, including 10 fours and 4 sixes.
Top 5 players who made an impact in the game
Nitish Rana 87 (61)
Ruturaj Gaikwad 72 (53)
Ambati Rayudu 38 (20)
Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-20-2
Ravindra Jadeja 31 (11)
