Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 34 runs in IPL-7

Brendon McCullumRanchi (Jharkhand), May 3 - Opener Brendon McCullum and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja starred with the bat and ball respectively to help Chennai Super Kings romp to a comfortable 34-run victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-affected Indian Premier League encounter at the JCSA International Cricket Stadium here on Friday night.

The match commenced after a delay of an hour-and-half and was reduced to each side playing 17 overs each. CSK skipper and home town hero M. S. Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat.

McCullum smashed five boundaries and two sixes in a vital knock of 56 from just 40 deliveries that propelled his side to a competitive 148 for three, reports Sport24.

KKR struggled to keep pace in reply, scoring 114 for the loss of nine wickets. Left-arm spinner Jadeja decimated the middle order to finish with incredible figures of four for 12 in his four overs.

Seamer Mohit Sharma chipped in with three wickets for 20-odd runs.

Only Robin Uthappa (47) and Yusuf Pathan (41) offered significant resistance, as the Knight Riders suffered a third successive defeat to remain in fourth place in the standings.

CSK now find themselves level on points with the table-topping Kings XI Punjab having amassed five wins from six.

The teams for the match were as follows:

Chennai Super Kings: DR Smith, BB McCullum, SK Raina, F du Plessis, MS Dhoni (captain, wciketkeeper), M Manhas, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, BW Hilfenhaus, IC Pandey, MM Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders: G Gambhir (captain), JH Kallis, MK Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, RV Uthappa (wicketkeeper), YK Pathan, SA Yadav, AD Russell, PP Chawla, R Vinay Kumar, SP Narine. (ANI)