IPL 2018 live cricket score, Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, updates: Watson on fire in 203-run chase

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bowl and the picked up the wicket of Sunil Narine cheaply. Kolkata Knight Riders batted aggressively and maintained a steady run-rate despite losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Andre Russell changed the complexion of the game with some massive hits. His 11 sixes and his 36-ball 88 helped Kolkata Knight Riders reach 202/6, a formidable total in Chepauk. Will MS Dhoni’s side chase this target down and give the home fans plenty to cheer? Get live cricket score of Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2018, MA Chidambaram stadium here (LIVE SCORECARD |LIVE STREAMING INFO)

22:12 hrs IST: SIX! THIS IS DESTRUCTIVE BATTING! Rayudu joins the party as he goes after Chawla. First he hits the ball over the bowler’s head and then hits it over covers. The opener then drives the ball through cover-point. CSK 53/0 in 4 overs

22:10 hrs IST: FOUR! Rayudu makes full use of a full toss from Russell and directs the ball past short fine leg fielder. This is great start but CSK need more of those. CSK 36/0 in 3 overs

22:08 hrs IST: Another bowling change for KKR. Their batting hero Andre Russell comes to bowl his first over.

22:05 hrs IST: SIX! Watson known his job and this time Piyyush Chawla is at the receiving end. The Australian gets down on his knee and heaves the ball over mid-wicket. CSK 30/0 in 2 overs

22:01 hrs IST: BANG! The onslaught starts from the first over with 16 runs coming from it. Watson on fire as he takes Vinay Kumar to task. He hits two massive sixes as the MA Chidambaram Stadium crowd goes berserk. CSK 16/0 in 1 over

21:55 hrs IST: CSK openers Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu are in the middle. Chasing 203 is no small task but CSK have the line-up to give it a good shot

21:46 hrs IST: 11th six for Andre Russell and he helps KKR reach 202/6. What a performance. Simply sublime.

21:39 hrs IST: Perfect 10 for Russell, when it comes to sixes. He carves a wide ball from Shardul over deep extra cover. What hitting!

21:36 hrs IST: CSK miss a run-out chance. Bravo bowls the yorker and Russell digs it out, he has no idea where the ball is. Raina misfields and he does not fire the throw to Bravo, Russell makes it. Can KKR cross 200?

21:33 hrs IST: Russell is just dealing in sixes at this point in time. In fact, a hat-trick of them. Full ball on leg stump, the batsman whips it hard over deep square leg. Next ball, he blasts a slower ball over long on. That hit the roof and comes back. A full toss is then mauled over deep mid wicket. Can he do the perfect 6?

21:31 hrs IST: WICKET - Watson gets Karthik but the damage has been done. The yorker on leg stump, Karthik fails to dig it out and the ball hits the back pad, the umpire gives out and DK reviews, replays show the ball to be clipping leg stump. Dinesh Karthik LBW Russell 26 (25).

21:26 hrs IST: Fourth fifty for Andre Russell. Full and wide ball outside off from Shane Watson, Russell slices the drive powerfully to deep extra cover, Rayudu looks to catch it near the boundary but cannot hold on to it.

21:24 hrs IST: Karthik ends a great over by depositing Bravo for the third six in the 17th over. KKR well on course for a big score.

21:21 hrs IST: Massive. A 105-meter six. Length ball on leg stump, Russell clears the front leg and launches it out of Chepauk. It might have landed near Marina Beach, such was the distance. Two balls later, his fifth six is off a low full toss and flat over wide long on.

21:16 hrs IST: Russell is teeing off and Thakur bears the brunt. Two sixes, one over long off and one over long on is just the thing KKR need ahead of the final four overs.

21:10 hrs IST: Five overs remain. Can KKR get to 170?

21:06 hrs IST: KKR may be five-down but Andre Russell is still there. Length ball from Dwayne Bravo and he deposits his West Indies counterpart into the stands at long on.

20:59 hrs IST: Andre Russell brings up the team 100 with a lovely drive off a full delivery from Watson to the long off fence.

20:52 hrs IST: WICKET - KKR are stumbling here. Full ball outside off, Rinku Singh drives it straight to backward point where Dwayne ‘Champion’ Bravo does not drop the catch. Rinku Singh c Bravo b Thakur 2 (4).

20:44 hrs IST: A calamitous run-out. First Rana and now Uthappa, their set batsman. Short of a length ball outside off, Uthappa punches it to Raina at cover who fields well, there is confusion and the fielder scores a direct hit. Robin Uthappa run out (Raina) 29 (16).

20:39 hrs IST: WICKET - Key wicket this. Short ball on middle and leg, Nitish Rana miscues the pull and Dhoni runs to his left to take the catch. Nitish Rana c Dhoni b Watson 16 (14).

20:35 hrs IST: Some worrying things happening in Chepauk. Some shoes being thrown from the upper tier. Two of them fell on the field and removed by Faf du Plessis and Ravindra Jadeja. No signs of play stopping but this could be the Kaveri protestors. Meanwhile, Rana lofts Shardul Thakur over mid off for a glorious boundary.

20:31 hrs IST: Nitish Rana gets going with a slapped cut to deep backward point. KKR making great progress even after the powerplay.

20:26 hrs IST: HUGE! Jadeja floats this delivery up and Uthappa nails the slog sweep into the vacant IJK stands at deep mid wicket. And he follows it up with another one.

20:23 hrs IST: WICKET - Jadeja strikes. Lynn dances down the track and looks to slog Jadeja over mid wicket, but the ball straightens and Lynn misses the slog to be cleaned up. Chris Lynn b Jadeja 22 (16).

20:22 hrs IST: Lynn toe-ends the lofted drive but hits it just over mid-off while Uthappa slog sweeps a full, flat ball over deep mid wicket. Bad start for Tahir/

20:19 hrs IST: Good over from Ravindra Jadeja. Only two runs in the fourth over. Dhoni is getting Imran Tahir in.

20:14 hrs IST: Poor ball from Watto. Full and on the pads, Robbie neatly flicks it to deep backward square leg for an easy boundary. He follows it up with a nicely steered shot past the slip fielder for a four to third man.

20:12 hrs IST: WHACK - Short ball from Shane Watson and the batsman flays it to the deep extra cover fence. Lynn in great touch.

20:10 hrs IST: Deepak Chahar drops a difficult catch. Lynn pulls this short delivery to square leg where Chahar dives to his left but fails to latch on to it, would have been a stunning catch.

20:08 hrs IST: WICKET - One shot too many. Narine attempts his third six but Harbhajan, using his skill, bowls it with a bit more air and the batsman top-edges the sweep to be caught at long off by Raina. Sunil Narine c Raina b Harbhajan 12 (4).

20:05 hrs IST: Sunil Narine, on the other hand, has started off in blazing fashion. He mauls two sixes over long on, both huge ones as Chennai Super Kings concede 18 runs in the first over.

20:04 hrs IST: Chris Lynn starts off in style with a slashed cut over backward point off Deepak Chahar. Decent start for Kolkata Knight Riders.

19:48 hrs IST: For Kolkata Knight Riders, only one change. Tom Curran is in for Mitchell Johnson. Here are the playing XIs.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Vinay Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Tom Curran, Kuldeep Yadav

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur

19:45 hrs IST: Chennai Super Kings have chosen to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK have made two changes, with Shardul Thakur and Sam Billings replacing Kedar Jadhav and Mark Wood.

19:40 hrs IST: According to our correspondent, the umpires are stuck in traffic. The match referee has reached but are waiting for them to arrive. “This is what local organisers say...(though stuck in traffic sounds a touch odd)”, he adds. But, maybe, the protestors have held the umpires up.

19:37 hrs IST: No idea as to why the toss is delayed. Everything seems to be fine. According to reports, KKR arrived at the ground a bit late and that is the reason for the delay.

19:23 hrs IST: For plenty of CSK fans, this will be a roller-coaster ride. Even MS Dhoni, a man who is not known to show his emotions, teared up when asked about the return of CSK back in the tournament. The first match was the curtain-raiser, this match will be special.

19:15 hrs IST: Chennai Super Kings players have been warming-up for a while now; Kolkata Knight Riders, who played on Sunday, have just come into the ground. The MA Chidambaram Stadium is filling up now, and it is a sea of yellow to one side. Three new stands on the opposite still cannot be used as it waits for necessary permissions from the local authorities for a few years now.

18:46 hrs IST: The political protests have chosen their moment to make a noise, but for the cricket fans, there might be no stopping them today as they see the return of Mahi and their team back at Chepauk after close to three years. Today, Whistlepodu will erupt.

18:38 hrs IST: This is the update from the ground: There is police presence outside the Chepauk stadium but there is no sign of trouble anywhere near. a few cops are scattered inside the ground. The Chennai Super Kings players are in the MA Chidambaram stadium.

18:32 hrs IST: A warm welcome to the clash between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.Before a ball has been bowled, there has been plenty of action. The Kaveri protests have intensified and there is a heavy police presence in and around Annasalai, which is a kilometre away from Chepauk.

MS Dhoni’s side was dubbed the ‘Dad’s Army’ as many past stalwarts were bought back in the players’ auction on the team’s return after a two-year ban in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal. And few knew what to make of a reshuffled KKR. It was seen as arguably the weakest, and Mitchell Starc’s injury only strengthened that assessment. This despite three of IPL’s original eight – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab – are still chasing a title.

Upstaging holders Mumbai Indians and RCB respectively will add energy to the CSK-KKR clash, but it is likely to face heat of a different kind. Tamil Nadu political parties and farmers are demanding implementation of the Supreme Court-mandated institutional mechanism for release of Cauvery water by Karnataka and their leaders feel the time is not right for an IPL game in the state.