IPL 2021, CSK vs KKR as it happened: CSK win a thriller as Jadeja does the star turn

CSK 172/8 after 20 overs: Chahar heaved it away for a single. CSK win this! The 22-run over from Prasidh did the trick for the yellow brigade. Super win for the Super Kings! It went right down to the last ball.

CSK 171/8 after 19.5 overs: WICKET! Jadeja trapped LBW. He has called for a review. Didn’t help. CSK need 1 off 1 ball now!!!! What do we have here! Jadeja lbw b Narine 22(8)

CSK 168/7 after 19.1 overs: WICKET! First ball of the last over and we have a wicket. Curran picks out the man in the deep. Curran Sam Curran c (sub)K Nagarkoti b Narine 4(4)

CSK 168/6 after 19 overs: Prasidh was in the mood to hand out some gifts and Jadeja took them all. A six and then another six, a four and finally another four off the third, fourth, fifth and sixth deliveries of the over. 22 runs off the over!! CSK need 4 off 6 balls now.

Chennai Super Kings need 26 runs in 12 balls...

CSK 142/6 after 17.3 overs: BOWLED! Dhoni has been clean bowled by Chakravarthy! Just couldn’t read it. Curran and Jadeja in the middle and they are both on zero. Last 15 balls, 15 runs and 3 wickets. Superb for KKR.

CSK 142/5 after 17.1 overs: Run out! Raina has been caught out of his crease. CSK need 30 off 17 balls! Things are coming apart for CSK.

CSK 138/4 after 16.4 overs: WICKET! Moeen caught on the boundary line while going for a big hit just one ball after Russell limped off the field. Dhoni is in next. Moeen Ali c Venkatesh Iyer b Ferguson 32(28)

CSK 132/3 after 16 overs: Iyer into the attack and he concedes just 5 runs. CSK now need 40 runs off 24 balls. Pressure.

CSK 127/3 after 15 overs: Raina is in next and he usually doesn’t take long to get started. He will prefer spin to pace.

CSK 119/3 after 14.2 overs: WICKET! Narine sends back Rayudu, who played all over the delivery to get bowled. Time for a strategic timeout. The next few overs could be key in the match – a chance for KKR to rethink their strategy if they want to.

CSK 115/2 after 14 overs: Another good over for KKR. CSK now need 57 runs in 36 balls. The equation just got a little tougher.

CSK 112/2 after 13 overs: Nice little period for KKR. Chennai Super Kings now need 60 runs in 42 balls. Still very much attainable for the batting side.

CSK 102/2 after 11.3 overs: WICKET! Faf du Plessis is well caught by Ferguson on the boundary line. The sun was in his eyes but he kept his focus. Prasidh the bowler. du Plessis c Ferguson b Prasidh 43(30)

CSK 101/1 after 11 overs: Another fine over for CSK, they now need 71 runs in 54 balls. The openers did a very fine job and now the pressure is all on KKR. Wickets are the way back into the match.

CSK 89/1 after 10 overs: It looked like KKR had managed to get the break in momentum they wanted, then the last two balls of Ferguson’s over were dispatched for a four and a six. This has been a very good first half of the innings for CSK.

CSK 74/1 after 8.2 overs: WICKET! SIX and GONE! Russell gets KKR the breakthrough – a leading edge, taken easily. Gaikwad falls after making 40 off 28 balls. A classy innings but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the CSK batting line-up copes with the wicket. Ruturaj Gaikwad c Morgan b Russell 40(28)

CSK 68/0 after 8 overs: Steady over by Chakravarthy. Just what KKR needed. They would love a wicket at this point too.

CSK 63/0 after 7 overs: KKR were 55/2 at the same stage. Gaikwad is playing Narine with ease. Picking the right balls to hit and he got another six in the over. Superb batting by both openers.

CSK 52/0 after 6 overs: CSK needed a good Powerplay and they have got it. 52 for no loss after 6 overs. But this is where things started to get more difficult for KKR.

CSK 42/0 after 5 overs: Gaikwad giving Narine the treatment — the timing and the shots have been superb. A four and a six in the over. 14 runs from the over.

CSK 28/0 after 4 overs: 10 runs off Chakravarthy’s first over and included a stunning cover drive for four by Faf. Nice, steady build-up by a team that has won its last five matches at this venue.

CSK 18/0 after 3 overs: Du Plessis taking the attack to Prasidh. The first ball was hit for four and then the third ball was hit too. Cutters might be the need of the hour for KKR’s pacemen.

CSK 9/0 after 2 overs: Four runs off the Ferguson over. Keeping things steady. Gaikwad leaning into the drive. Morgan saving spin for the middle overs today?

CSK 5/0 after 1 over: One beautiful four to start things off for Gaikwad. Just five runs off the Krishna over.

The CSK openers are in the middle. Crucial for CSK to get a good Powerplay in. How will this go?

KKR 171/6 after 20 overs: Misfielding off the last ball and KKR get a four. 44 runs off the last three overs and KKR finish with 171/6. This is the total they had in mind, will it be enough?

KKR 166/6 after 19.3 overs: WICKET! Karthik falls after a breezy 26 off 11 balls. It has given KKR the push they needed to get close to 170. Hazlewood the bowler. Karthik c Dhoni b Hazlewood 26(11)

KKR 158/5 after 19 overs: KKR getting the big overs finally. A six and a four to start the Curran over for Karthik and that is just what the team needed. 19 runs off the over. Last 3 overs, 37 runs.

KKR 139/5 after 18 overs: Two fours for Rana in the Chahar over but he doesn’t seem like a happy man. No fluency in his stroke play and the CSK bowlers have generally been very tight so far.

KKR 125/5 after 16.4 overs: WICKET! Russell drags it on. Thakur strikes again. Big, big wicket! CSK have been so good after the fifth over. Thakur got them a wicket then and they just haven’t let KKR find any rhythm.

KKR 121/4 after 16 overs: Superb over by Chahar. Just three runs off it. Nice mix of slower balls, short ball and yorkers.

KKR 118/4 after 15 overs: Annndddd Russell starts to get going. A six and a four in the Curran over. The big man takes spin out of the equation for CSK. 14 runs off the over.

KKR 104/4 after 14 overs: A six off Hazlewood for Rana as KKR look to get to 170. Russell has taken a few balls to try and get his eye in and we all know he needs little more than an over to change things around. Some tough decisions for Dhoni to make. Time for a strategic timeout.

Russell in the middle. But there is no pace in the wicket. Will he get going... on this wicket?

KKR 89/4 after 12.2 overs: WICKET! Jadeja strikes to send back Tripathi. The batsman tried the reverse hit but got bowled instead. Fine innings but this makes things more difficult for KKR. Tripathi b Jadeja 45(33)

KKR 89/3 after 12 overs: Thakur and Jadeja have done well for CSK. The wickets have helped too. But KKR need to find some momentum before the big hitters come in.

KKR 84/3 after 11 overs: Rana in the middle with Tripathi now. CSK will look to drag the run-rate down now.

KKR 78/3 after 10 overs: KKR coach David Hussey believes anything in the region of 170 will be a good total.

KKR 70/3 after 9.1 overs: WICKET! Brilliant catch by du Plessis on the boundary line to send back Morgan. Hazlewood the bowler. Perfect return after the break. Morgan c du Plessis b Hazlewood 8(14)

KKR 70/2 after 9 overs: Time for a strategic timeout. A slowish wicket. And that will help KKR’s spinners too. What is going to be a good total here?

KKR 64/2 after 8 overs: And KKR get 9 runs off Thakur’s second over. The match hangs in balance at the moment. Both teams are in it.

KKR 55/2 after 7 overs: Jadeja into the attack and just five runs from the over. Interesting phase of the innings coming up.

A wicket-maiden for Thakur. Brilliant end to the Powerplay for CSK. KKR won’t mind this either. They have a decent platform to build on.

KKR 50/2 after 5.1 overs: WICKET! Thakur into the attack and he strikes with his first ball. Iyer edged it to the keeper. The review didn’t help. Didn’t get going as we know he can but KKR have their start. Venkatesh Iyer c Dhoni b Thakur 18(15)

KKR 50/1 after 5 overs: Iyer playing smart cricket. Showing there is so much more to him than just brawn. Two four in the third man region. One just hit into the ground and he just leant back for the second, ramping it over the slips.

KKR 40/1 after 4 overs: CSK looked like they had got another one. Tripathi tried to play the upper cut and edged it to the keeper. But it was too high from Curran! Saved by a no-ball. The free hit was slammed for a six. KKR have got off to a fine start.

KKR 26/1 after 3 overs: Chahar almost got Iyer in the over. A lovely slower ball completely deceived Iyer but the top edge landed just short of the diving Faf du Plessis. Still, the left-hander seemed to recover his poise by the end of the over and get a four off the last ball.

KKR 19/1 after 2 overs: No swing for the pacers and that might be a problem for CSK’s medium-pacers. Tripathi with a four in the over to make it a 9-run over. Iyer and Tripathi shared a brilliant stand in KKR’s last game and it will be interesting to see how they do today.

KKR 10/1 after 1 over: WICKET! Deepak Chahar to start things off for CSK and Gill slammed him for two fours – one straight and one through the covers. Then, a huge LBW appeal but Gill was saved by the review. Then, there was a huge mix-up in the middle. Gill set off and was caught short of his crease after being sent back. Shubman Gill run out (Rayudu) 9(5)

Playing XIs:

Kolkata Knight Riders XI: S Gill, V Iyer, N Rana, R Tripathi, A Russell, E Morgan, D Karthik, S Narine, L Ferguson, V Chakaravarthy, P Krishna.

Chennai Super Kings XI: F du Plessis, R Gaikwad, M Ali, A Rayudu, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, S Curran, S Thakur, D Chahar, J Hazlewood.

Toss: Eoin Morgan has won the toss and KKR is going to bat first. No changes to KKR. One change for CSK. Bravo has been rested and Curran comes into the playing XI.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of match no. 38 of IPL 2021. After winning both their games in the UAE leg of the tournamnet, two in-form teams - Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders - are all set to face each other in Abu Dhabi.

Both CSK and KKR have won their matches in style. CSK have been calm and composed while KKR’s all-out blitz has left the opposition gasping for breath. It makes for an interesting clash of styles.

Given that this is the second phase of the tournament, every game is crucial from a qualification point of view and both teams won’t be taking it easy.