Tripathi stood tall en route to his fifth IPL fifty before Kolkata Knight Riders missed late in the innings to be eliminated by 167.
Scorekeeper | Points table
In response, CSK stopped at 157 for five.
Having regained his confidence with a whirlwind of 83, it wasn’t against Kings XI Punjab, the veteran CSK starter Shane watson picked up from where he had left to throw a 50 of 40 balls, his 21st in the lucrative league.
Watson reveled in the short ball strategy of the KKR bowlers in a 69-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu (30 of 27 balls).
Needing 78 runs in the final 10 overs, the CSK duo set out to add just two runs, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who came out at bat at No. 4, came out for 11.
Rahul Tripathi is the man of the match for his brilliant 81 shot in 51 deliveries. # Dream11IPL https://t.co/Hez7H21yxY
– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1602095038000
Sam Curran hit 17 of 11 balls, but that wasn’t enough as CSK came up short.
The victory catapulted KKR to third place in the table with three wins from five games, while CSK held on to five with four points from six games.
Previously, Chennai Super Kings made a notable comeback when KKR lost three wickets in the last final to ‘birthday boy’ Dwayne Bravo eliminating two of them for an impressive 3/37.
Tripathi ran to his fifty on 31 balls to give KKR a solid base after Dinesh Karthik called him in the draw.
Going 93 for two in the middle stage, KKR looked ready for a big score, but Bravo struck after that.
Here are the numbers that mattered from tonight’s impressive win over CSK! #KKRvCSK #KKRHaiTaiyaar # Dream11IPL https://t.co/tn5Szl6Eyu
– KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) 1602094923000
Leg spinner Karn sharma (2/25), Shradul Thakur (2/28), Sam Curran (2/26) claimed two wickets each as the side led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni bounced back by taking eight wickets while giving away just 74 runs.
Dhoni collected four receptions, the last one being his best effort.
On a field at Sheikh Zayed Stadium that seemed to slow down, Tripathi played a risk-free shot and maintained a healthy running pace.
Karthik made the disconcerting decision to send Sunil Narine ahead of his best hitter, Eoin Morgan, at No. 4. However, Narine did his job with a 17 of nine balls before being fired by an excellent combined effort from Ravindra. Jadeja and Faf. du Plessis.
Morgan started with a classic coverage drive limit, but Curran interrupted it with a goalie who came up and took a weak edge behind the stumps.
Thakur, who had made the first breakthrough by firing a Shubman Gill (11) in shape, claimed the big ground from Andre Russell with a short cross stitch delivery as the dazzling KKR struggled to get going.
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