Jadeja shines again, as CSK beat KKR by four wickets

Kolkata, April 20: Chennai Super Kings made heavy weather of a small chase before Ravindra Jadeja's blitzkrieg powered the visitors to a four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Rifourders in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Saturday.

Chasing a paltry 120, the Super Kings found themselves on a tight corner when they were redused to 89 for six in the 17th over.

But Jadeja (36 off 14) meant business and used his long handle to great effect to wrap up the issue for CSK. He shared an unbeaten 35-run partnership with Dwayne Bravo (7) to guide CSK home.

Apart from Jadeja, Mike Hussey (40 off 51) played a sensible innings at the top to keep CSK in the hunt even thought wickets kept falling at the other end.

With CSK needing 27 runs from the last three overs, the Knight Riders brought in their trump card Sunil Narine in the 18th over, but Jadeja hit the bowler straight over his head for a huge six.

Jadeja got a huge reprieve when Yusuf Pathan dropped him at the square leg boundary as he continued his assault with three boundaries in Kallis' penultimate over that reduced the equation to two runs from the last over.

Jadeja was in no mood to relent even though the game was under their control. He pulled Pathan over midwicket boundary for another six to help the Super Kings wrap up the issue with five balls to spare.

Earlier, the Knight Riders frittered away a good start to be restricted to a modest 119 for nine.

Opting to bat, the Knight Riders gambled with Yusuf Pathan, who was sent to open the innings along with skipper Gautam Gambhir.

The duo, however, did not disappoint and gave the Knight Riders a flying start sharing 46 runs off just 35 balls before losing the Chennai outfit turned things around.

After Gambhir (25) was dismissed by a stunning Hussey catch, the Knight Riders batsmen committed a hara-kiri of sorts as, from 46 for no loss, they slumped to 91 for eight in 15.5 overs.

It was 'mystery man' Narine's six-ball 13, which had two big sixes, that helped the Knight Riders cross the 100-run mark.

For the Super Kings, Jadeja returned with figures three for 20 from his four overs, while Aswhin scalped two wickets for 21 runs.

Brief Scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 119 for nine in 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 25, Yusuf Pathan 25; Ravindra Jadeja 3/20).

Chennai Super Kings: 124 for six in 19.1 overs (Mike Hussey 40, Ravindra Jadeja 36 not out; Sachithra Senanayake 1/18).