Ruturaj Gaikwad smokes his maiden fifty in IPL 2024: Stats
Ruturaj Gaikwad played a captain's knock as Chennai Super Kings thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in Match 21 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) in Chennai. The CSK skipper batted well on a tricky surface and returned unbeaten, having scored 67 off 58 balls (9 fours). This was his maiden fifty this season and a third one against KKR.
A brilliant hand from Gaikwad
Chasing 138, CSK were off to a decent start as Rachin Ravindra (15) and Gaikwad added 27 runs before the former departed. The CSK captain was then involved in a match-defining 70-run stand with Daryl Mitchell (25). While Gaikwad looked a little patchy early on, he later played some fine shots. He even hit the winning boundary as CSK prevailed in 17.4 overs.
Third fifty in eight games against KKR
This was Gaikwad's maiden fifty this season as his previous scores read 26, 1, 46, and 15. With this half-century, he has completed 1,952 runs in 57 IPL games at 39.04 (100: 1). While this was his 15th IPL fifty, the star batter recorded his third half-century in eight outings against KKR. The batter now tallies 327 runs against them at 46.71.
How did the game pan out?
Sunil Narine (27) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (24) consolidated for KKR with a fiery 56-run stand after Philip Salt's early departure. Ravindra Jadeja then struck thrice in no time as the Knight Riders could not recover thereafter and were restricted to 137/9. Tushar Deshpande also claimed a three-fer. Gaikwad anchored CSK's chase and powered his side over the line.
