Indian Premier League 2022 : Kolkata Knight Riders Winning Innings

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway opened the innings for Chennai Super Kings and were dismissed in the first few overs itself. Ruturaj Gaikwad at the score of 2, was caught by Nitish Rana; bowled by Umesh Yadav for a duck in the first over. Devon Conway was caught by Shreyas Iyer; bowled again by Umesh Yadav in the fifth over. Chennai Super Kings had just put 28 on the board when Devon Conway returned to the pavilion.

Robin Uthappa tried to pick up the pace of runs and scored 28 off 21 balls but was stumped by Sheldon Jackson; bowled by Varun Chakaravarthy; in the eighth over when Chennai Super Kings had just scored 49 runs in 7.5 overs. Run rate was kept in check by great bowling by Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers. Wickets fell in quick succession with Ambati Rayudu getting out at 15 runs in the ninth over followed by Shivam Dube at just 3 runs. The scoreboard was at 61 runs for 5 wickets in 10.5 overs.

It was looking all gloomy for the Chennai Super Kings until MS Dhoni joined Ravindra Jadeja on the pitch. This pair brought some life back into the innings after the dismal performance of top order. They together scored 70 runs of 56 balls taking the score to a respectable 131 in 20 overs. Ravindra Jadeja who took reins of captaincy from MS Dhoni right before the Indian Premier League’s 2022 season began, scored 26 off 28 balls. But the star of the innings was MS Dhoni who got 50 runs off just 38 balls with a strike rate of 131.58.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings witnessed a strong opening by Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer. Theirs was a partnership of 43 runs before Venkatesh Iyer was caught at 16 runs off 16 balls by MS Dhoni; bowled by DJ Bravo. Next wicket came after a gap when Nitish Rana was caught at 21 runs by Ambati Rayudu off a ball by DJ Bravo. Ajinkya Rahane was next to go to Pavilion a couple overs later, after scoring 44 runs of 34 balls. The brilliant performance by top order led Kolkata Knight Riders to cruise easily through the rest of the match. Chennai Super Kings tried hard but were unable to keep batsmen in check. There was a loss of just one more wicket of Sam Billings who added another 25 runs to the scoreboard. Shreyas Iyer scored the winning runs with Sheldon Jackson on pitch. Kolkata Knight Riders won by scoring 133 runs in 18.3 overs losing just 4 wickets and with 9 balls to spare. DJ Bravo was the most successful bowler for Chennai Super Kings who took 3 wickets giving 20 runs in 4 overs at an economy rate of 5 and was the most economic bowler for the side. Umesh Yadav was the player of the match.

Kolkata Knight Riders displayed an impressive performance both with their bowling and batting in the Indian Premier League’s opener match for 2022. Chennai Super Kings struggle with its batting top order led the team to put up a mediocre score to defend. Season has just opened and with several matches for both sides to come, fans will witness plenty of nail-biting performances.