Chennai: Following his CSK’s loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper MS Dhoni was seen sharing a heartwarming moment with legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
Crucial Fifties from Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana kept Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) playoffs hope alive as they registered 6 wickets victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Dhoni signed Gavaskar’s photo.
“This goes straight into our hearts! #YellorukkumThanks #WhistlePodu #Yellove,” tweeted CSK’s official Twitter handle.
Gavaskar represented India in 125 Tests from 1971-1987, scoring 10,122 runs at an average of 51.12 with 34 centuries and 45 fifties. He also played 108 ODIs, scoring 3,092 runs at an average of over 35 with a century and 13 fifties. He is considered as one of the greatest batters ever.
CSK opted to bat first and were restricted to 144/6 in their 20 overs. Solid knocks came from Shivam Dube (48* in 34 balls), Devon Conway (30 in 28 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (20). There was a 68-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Dube and Jadeja.
Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 2/15 in his four overs. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/36) also got a couple of wickets. Vaibhav Arora and Shardul Thakur got a wicket each.
In the chase of 145, KKR was once at 33/3. Then a 99-run stand between skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh took place, which brought back KKR into the game. Nitish slammed an unbeaten 57 in 44 balls, consisting of six fours and a six while Rinku scored 54 off 43 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes. KKR chased down the total in 18.3 overs with six wickets in hand.
Deepak Chahar (3/27) was the pick of the bowlers for CSK and did initial damage to KKR’s top order.
CSK is in the second position with seven wins, five losses and one no result. They have a total of 15 points. KKR is at seventh with six wins, seven losses and 12 points in total.
Rinku was given the ‘Player of the Match’ for his fifty.