IPL 2018: Sam Billings' 50, Jadeja's nerve help CSK beat KKR by 5 wickets

Chennai Super Kings pulled off another thriller while chasing IPL 2018 highest total against Kolkata Knight Riders, after CSK defeated Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018 opener on Bravo heroics

In the fifth match of the 11th season of Indian Premier League (IPL 2018), when M S Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) play at their home ground of Chepauk in Chennai to take on Dinesh Karthik’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), they will do so with some amount of confidence – especially after having beaten defending champions Mumbai Indians on their own turf by 1 wicket in a thrilling contest on Saturday.

However, they will also try to look at and correct their flaws in the opening game of the tournament which necessitated some last-minute heroics by Dwayne Bravo to seal the match for them in a nail-biter finish. Besides, there is one setback that CSK have suffered due to the injury sustained by Kedar Jadhav – the all-rounder has been ruled out of the rest of IPL 2018 due to a hamstring injury.

For their part, KKR also won their opening match on Sunday against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengal at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, by 4 wickets on Sunday.

Today’s CSK vs KKR match – a homecoming like no other as the 'Men in Yellow' play at M A Chidambaram Stadium for the first time since May 2015 – promises a treat to the legion of CSK fans. Ahead of their favourite team’s match, many loyal supporters turned up in huge numbers even to watch them train.

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that the CSK vs KKR match is being played in the shadow of some off-field issues and threats of disruption. Some political groups have been opposing IPL matches being played in Chennai against the backdrop of the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka Cauvery water sharing dispute. They are demanding that a Cauvery Management Board should be set up immediately and protesting the Narendra Modi-led central government’s failure to do so. They have threatened to disrupt any IPL proceedings.

With several fringe elements threatening to protest the IPL 2018 matches in Chennai over the Cauvery issue, security arrangements have been beefed up to prevent any untoward incident, according to the police. CSK CEO K S Viswanathan, however, said the team's home matches would go on according to schedule. The city police had been informed about the schedule and they would handle the situation accordingly, he added.

Vivo IPL 2018 team players list and their salaries

Ben Stokes was the star performer for the second consecutive year in the IPL auction as he was taken for Rs 12.5 crore by Rajasthan Royals

In the 2018 IPL auction a pool of 578 players were nominated and 169 players were sold to the eight franchises. England all-rounder Ben Stokes emerged as the highest-paid player at Rs 125 mn (Rs 12.5 cr) while the India's left arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat become the most expensive Indian player at Rs 115 million (Rs11.5cr). Both the players were bought by the Rajasthan Royals.

Other Indian players also had a field day, with Manish Pandey and KL Rahul going for Rs 11 crore each for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab respectively

Meanwhile, this year’s IPL auction shows that quality ranks above everything else for the franchises. A prime example of that is Lasith Malinga going unsold and Chris Gayle finding a team only after coming into the auction for a third time.

Here the full list of IPL 2018 team players and their salaries.

IPL 2017: RCB beats Gujarat by 21 runs; Chris Gayle, Yuzvendra Chahal shine

Chris Gayle also completed his 10,000 runs in twenty20 cricket

Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a blistering half-century before Yuzvendra Chahal returned with a three-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in their IPL 2017 encounter here today.

Gayle slammed a 38-ball 77-run innings, while skipper Virat Kohli produced a superb 50-ball 64 to guide RCB to a massive 213-2 after Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field.

Opener Brendon McCullum then played a superb 72-run off 44-ball innings, studded with two fours and seven sixes but he didn't get the support from the other end as RCB restricted the Lions to 192-7 to snap their three-game losing streak.

Yuzvendra Chahal (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as he picked up three crucial wickets — Dwayne Smith (1), Suresh Raina (23) and McCullum — in his four overs to derail Gujarat's runchase.

Chasing 214 to win, Gujarat lost their opening batsman Smith early when he was caught at the boundary line by Mandeep Singh off Chahal's bowling at deep square-leg.

Skipper Raina then slammed a quick-fire 8-ball 23 which included two fours and two sixes before becoming the second wicket of Chahal.

Coming down the pitch, Raina tried to play a sweep shot which went straight to Shane Watson at short fine leg.

McCullum (72) and Aaron Finch (19) then stitched a 66-run innings off 34 balls for the third wicket to take Gujarat across the 100-mark in 10th over.

McCullum also added 31 off 22 balls with Ravindra Jadeja (23) before becoming the third victim of Chahal in the 15th over as Lions looked down the barrel.

Jadeja then was run-out after a mix-up with new batsman Ishan Kishan in the 18th over. Kishan then hit a 16-ball 39, laced with four sixes and two four but it was too late in the end.(readmore)