Ravindra Jadeja won a record-equalling 15th Player of the Match award as defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in match 22 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday. (Full Coverage | Highlights)
Jadeja, a former CSK captain, produced a dream spell at Chennai's iconic Chepauk to claim three wickets for 18 runs in four overs. From ball one, he was in the thick of the action though. Tushar Deshpande struck with the very first delivery of the match -- Phil Salt caught at point by Jadeja.
Despite the early blow, the visitors raced to 56 runs in 36 balls -- the most expensive powerplay by CSK at Chepauk in IPL 2024. Unheralded Angkrish Raghuvanshi, in the company of maverick batter Sunil Narine, took charge with a flurry of boundaries. The introduction of Jadeja, however, changed the course of the match.
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Jadeja trapped Raghuvanshi in front with his first ball to break the stand. Four balls later, CSK got their second wicket. Narine, who hit 85 off 39 in KKR's massive win against Delhi Capitals, holed out at long off, caught by Maheesh Theekshana. Five runs and a couple of wickets in his first over for Jadeja.
Theekshana supported well from the other end with a tidy over, keeping KKR's new man Venkatesh Iyer quiet. But Jadeja continued his wicket hunt. Venkatesh tried to play a pull shot but ended up offering a relatively easy catch to Daryl Mitchell. Eight runs and three wickets in two overs!
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The star India all-rounder completed his spell by the 13th over of the innings, conceding seven and three runs in the subsequent overs, for figures of 3/18. KKR never recovered from those three wickets and could post only 137/9 -- a total CSK chased down with ease, in 17.4 overs.
The chase was anchored by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hit an unbeaten 67 off 58 balls. But the foundation for the big win was already laid Jadeja. "Always enjoy my bowling on these kind of tracks. I was just looking to bowl in good areas. I've practiced a lot here," said Jadeja after the match. "If you bowl in good areas, it helps you. Takes time for the visiting team to settle down and plan something. Difficult for them to come here and identify the surface. We know the conditions very well."
Jadeja became only the ninth player to win 15 or more Player of the Match awards winner in the history of the Indian Premier League. Here's the top 10 list:
Top 10 Player of the Match Awards In IPL
AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 25 in 184 matches.
Chris Gayle (Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 22 in 142 matches.
Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians) - 19 in 247 matches.
David Warner (Delhi Capitals, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 18 in 181 matches.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant, Rising Pune Supergiants) - 17 in 255 matches.
Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - 17 in 242 matches.
Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 16 in 174 matches.
Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 16 in 145 matches.
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Rajasthan Royals) - 15 in 231 matches.
Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) - 14 in 166 matches.
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The match CSK vs KKR, IPL 2024 match also witnessed Jadeja become the fourth player in the competition’s history to complete 100 catches, with the wicket of visiting captain Shreyas Iyer. Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma are the other players to do so.
Chennai Super Kings will be on the road to take on Mumbai Indians in Sunday's clash of two most successful IPL teams.
