CHENNAI: Ravindra Jadeja returned bowling figures of 3-18 as holders Chennai Super Kings handed Kolkata Knight Riders their first loss of this Indian Premier League season with a seven-wicket hammering on Monday.
Jadeja’s disciplined left-arm spin led Chennai’s bowling charge to restrict Kolkata to 137-9, a total the home team overhauled with 14 balls to spare at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Two-time winners Kolkata suffered defeat after three straight victories.
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad led the chase with an unbeaten 67 and a 70-run second-wicket partnership with Daryl Mitchell, who made 25, to make Chennai bounce back from two losses.
“Jaddu (Jadeja) always comes in after the power play with momentum in the spin department,” Gaikwad said of his man of the match performer.
“With this team, I don’t really need to tell things to anyone. Everyone’s in a great head space, Mahi (M.S. Dhoni) bhai and (Stephen) Fleming are still around to take those calls,” Gaikwad added.
Gaikwad, who was handed the captaincy by veteran Dhoni ahead of the season, hammered nine boundaries including the winning hit to make it three in three at home this season.
Shivam Dube hit 28 off 18 balls before departing with Chennai needing three for victory and the crowd erupted at the sight of Dhoni, who led the team to five IPL titles, walking out to bat.
The 42-year-old, who is likely playing his last season as player, made one off three balls amid loud cheers from the fans dressed in the Chennai’s yellow.
Kolkata had a horror start to their innings after they lost England’s Phil Salt on the first ball off fast bowler Tushar Dehspande.
Jadeja remained the hero as he struck on the first ball of his opening over and sent back the in-form Sunil Narine (27) four balls later to put Kolkata in trouble at 60-3 inside seven overs.
Wickets kept tumbling as Jadeja, who reached 100 catches in the IPL, took one more and fellow spinner Maheesh Theekshana reduced the opposition to 85-5 in 11.5 overs.
The innings never took off with skipper Shreyas Iyer adding some respect with his 34 in 32 balls.
“W have to go back to our drawing board and learn, just a matter of one match and one innings, glad it happened at the start of the tournament,” said Iyer.
Deshpande claimed three wickets and Bangladesh left-arm quick Mustafizur Rahman took two for Chennai.
Ravindra Jadeja helps Chennai Super Kings end Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL winning run
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Ravindra Jadeja helps Chennai Super Kings end Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL winning run
- Jadeja’s disciplined left-arm spin led Chennai’s bowling charge to restrict Kolkata to 137-9
Jon Rahm putts his way to 2nd round lead at LIV Adelaide
- A two-time LIV individual season champ, Rahm is looking for his first tournament win since 2024
ADELAIDE: Jon Rahm fired a 63 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead into the third round of LIV Golf Adelaide in Australia.
Rahm posted a bogey-free round at Grange Golf Club that included seven birdies — five of them on the back nine — and an eagle on the 561-yard par-5 No. 7 hole to move to 13-under for
the tournament.
The Spaniard stands one shot ahead of Ben Campbell, who also recorded seven birdies and an eagle for his 9-under round of 63.
Bryson DeChambeau is in third place at 11-under after
shooting a 67.
Rahm can credit his success on Friday to his putting. His eagle on No. 7 was courtesy of a 47-foot putt, and he also holed five more putts of between 10 and 25 feet. He made about 150 feet
of putts. A two-time LIV individual season champ, Rahm is looking for his first tournament win
since 2024.
“I can’t remember the last time I made this many, but it was a lot — and the ones that didn’t go in looked like they were going to go in,” Rahm said. “It was a fantastic day on the greens.”
Campbell, of New Zealand, is seeking his first win in Australia as a pro. He had a contingent of family and friends
following him.
“It’s great,” Campbell said of his support system. “It’s as close to I get playing at home. Everyone has been amazing.”
Without the windy conditions of Thursday, the course played easier on Friday. The stroke average of 69.035 bested the opening round by more than
two strokes.
Thirteen different players recorded eagles or better on Friday. David Puig of Spain made the third albatross in league history with his 2 on the par-5 10th hole.
One of those eagles belonged to DeChambeau, who had an up-and-down round that also included five birdies and
two bogeys.
“I was scrambling all day, and that’s something you just can’t do if you’re trying to win a golf tournament,” DeChambeau said.
In fourth place is Anthony Kim (67 on Friday) at 10-under with Talor Gooch (63) and Branden Grace of South Africa (64) in fifth place at 9-under.
On the team front, Campbell’s round helped to propel the RangeGoats into a tie for first at 23-under with Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces, aided by Kim’s performance.
Those teams are one shot ahead of Rahm’s Legion XIII as well as Ripper GC and
Torque GC.
