Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen's poor form continued in their fourth game of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Chennai Super Kings as they lost not one, not two, not three but five wickets just inside the powerplay, chasing a mammoth total of 221 runs.
Deepak Chahar was the man for the men in yellow with the ball again as he started the wickets procession from the first over itself. Chahar's first dismissal was the opening batsman Shubman Gill, who chipped straight into the hands of the third man fielder Lungi Ngidi.
That wicket just started the domino effect as one brought two and two brought three. Chahar got Nitish Rana to hit straight into the hands of the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his next over. As KKR captain Eoin Morgan started to find his groove, he was also sent packing by Chahar in the next over.
Chahar dismissed Morgan and Sunil Narine in the same over to reduce KKR to 31/4 in just five overs. If this much damage wasn't enough, Lungi Ngidi in his next over got rid of Rahul Tripathi, who also got a thing edge, gave MS Dhoni his third catch of the game as KKR were in deep trouble at 31/5. But, Andre Russell had completely different ideas.
Russell hit two fours and a six to score 14 runs in the remaining four balls of the powerplay, to help KKR end the powerplay on 45/5.