CHENNAI Super Kings (CSK) displaced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from the top of the VIVO IPL 2019 standings after they defeated them by seven wickets in Match 23.

After opting to bowl on a dry-looking surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Super Kings bowled brilliantly to restrict the visitors to 108-9 and then chased down the runs in the 18th over.

Shane Watson and Suresh Raina took toll of the hard new ball and made things easy for the batsmen who followed. Watson struck two fours and a six in his 9-ball 17, while Raina hit a four and a six in his 13-ball 14.

Faf du Plessis, who opened the innings, and Ambati Rayudu (21 from 31 balls) then added 46 runs for the third wicket to put the CSK firmly in control. After Rayudu was dismissed, du Plessis (43 not out) completed the job in the company of Kedar Jadhav (8 not out).
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders, put in to bat, committed hara-kiri very early in the match. Their batsmen paid the price for playing aggressive aerial strokes without judging the pace of the pitch.

The opener Chris Lynn was trapped lbw by an inswinger but most of the other batsmen failed to adjust to the slowness of the surface and either holed out to strategically placed fielders or were stumped by a mile.

The visitors slipped to 47 for 6 when Shubman Gill was dismissed at the start of the eleventh over. It took a mature innings from Andre Russell – who rode his luck, but applied himself well thereafter – to guide KKR to 108-9.

The biggest partnership in the KKR innings was worth 29 runs; Russell and Piyush Chawla added 29 for the seventh wicket, and then the last wicket pair of Russell and Harry Gurney were involved in an unbeaten 29-run stand.

For the CSK, Deepak Chahar picked up three wickets, while the spin trio combined well for returns of 5 for 53 from their 12 overs. Scott Kuggeleijn was the only CSK bowler to return wicket-less.

Brief Scores:
CSK: 111-3 in 17.2 overs (Faf du Plessis 43*, Sunil Narine 2-24) defeated KKR: 109-9 (Andre Russell 50*, Deepak Chahar 3-20, Harbhajan Singh 2-15, Imran Tahir 2-21) by 7 wickets.