Gill, Karthik guide KKR to six-wicket win over CSK
Kolkata, May 3: Top-order batsman Shubman Gill cracked an unbeaten 36-ball 57 while skipper Dinesh Karthik bludgeoned a 18-ball 45 not out to guide Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.
Chasing 178 for victory, Gill, an U-19 World Cup winner, joined hands with Karthik for an unbroken 83-run fifth wicket partnership off 36 deliveries that took the game away from M.S. Dhoni's team despite their making early inroads. This was Gill's maiden IPL fifty.
Put in to bat, CSK rode Dhoni's unbeaten 25-ball 43 to post 177/5 in 20 overs. In reply, KKR finished on 180/4 with 14 balls to spare to register second win on the bounce and fifth overall in the tournament so far.
KKR moved to third spot having 10 points from 9 games while Sunrisers Hyderabad pipped CSK to the top of the table.
Pushed up the order, Gill's innings was laced with six fours and two sixes as Karthik ably supported him hitting seven fours and a six.
KKR lost Chris Lynn (12) early with young South African seamer pacer Lungi Ngidi (1/36) picking up his wicket in the first over.
Sunil Narine (32; 20b 4x4 2x6) made the most of two reprieves in consecutive deliveries in the second over, when Ravindra Jadeja dropped him at wide mid on off K.M. Asif when he was on 6.
Robin Uthappa (6) did not last long, top-edging a mistimed pull to Dwayne Bravo at midwicket off Asif. Narine, who set the platform for KKR's chase, holed out to Bravo in the deep off Jadeja.
Despite the early blows, KKR kept pace with the target, racing to 90/3 at the halfway stage, the same as CSK albeit losing two more wickets.
Rinku Singh (16) failed too before Gill and Karthik took the game by the scruff of the neck, taking Asif for 21 runs in the 15th over which proved to be the game-changer.
Earlier, Dhoni continued his good form with the bat and made the most of Gill dropping him on 29.
The 36-year old hit four sixes and one four, stitching together a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (12).
Openers Faf du Plessis (27; 15b 4x4 1x6), Shane Watson (36; 25b 4x4 2x6) and Raina (31; 26b 4x4 0x6) also contributed with the bat for the visitors but Shivam Mavi (0/21) and Piyush Chawla (2/35) bowled well for the hosts besides Narine.
Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, returning figures of 2/20 in four overs.
The atmosphere was electric inside the stadium as well as outside, with much of the fanfare around the CSK side and their iconic skipper Dhoni.
A sea of yellow engulfed parts of the Eden as every boundary was cheered vociferously, giving a feeling of it being an away match for KKR.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 180/4 in 17.4 overs (Shubman Gill 57 not out, Dinesh Karthik 45 not out) beat Chennai Super Kings 177/5 (Dhoni 43; Sunil Narine 2/20, Piyush Chawla 2/35) by six wickets.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
