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Following the win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Nitish Rana said that using a heavy roller settled the pitch completely and the ball did not turn in the second innings.
Crucial fifties from Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana kept KKR's playoffs hope alive as they registered 6 wickets victory over CSK at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. "Chandu sir [Chandrakant Pandit, KKR coach] asked for a heavy roller, which I did not want. I felt the heavy roller might break the pitch, but it settled the pitch completely. The ball did not turn in the second innings. Credit to our spinners for how well they bowled. I always felt that if I or Rinku could hold one end up, we will chase this down. That is what happened," said Nitish in a post-match presentation. Notably, Nitish is having a great IPL 2023 as a batter. In 13 matches, he has scored 405 runs at an average of 33.75 and a strike rate of 143.10. He has three half-centuries this season, with the best score of 75. CSK opted to bat first and were restricted to 144/ 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 at one stage was 33/3. Then a 99-run stand between skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh brought KKR back 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. (ANI)
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