Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets to earn their third win of the season at Chepauk.
After putting to bat first by KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane, CSK lost openers Devon Conway (12) and Rachin Ravindra (4) for just 16 runs in 4.1 overs.
After two quick wickets of openers, Rahul Tripathi (16) and Vijay Shankar (29) offered some resistance to CSK in the middle with a 43-run stand for the third wicket.
The CSK’s middle-order batters failed to step up for the team when they were needed the most, as the visitors were reduced from 59/3 to 79/9, losing six wickets in just 20 runs.
MS Dhoni failed to live up to the expectations of the fans on his CSK captaincy return, as he scored just 1 run before being dismissed by Sunil Narine.
Shivam Dube’s valiant unbeaten innings of 31 off 29 balls helped CSK go past 100-run mark amid batting collapse and posted a total of 103/9 in 20 overs.
KKR bowlers collective effort was on display to restrict CSK to a below-par total, with Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy sharing crucial wickets.
Chasing a 104-run target, Quinton de Kock (23) and Sunil Narine gave KKR a great start to their innings, racing to 46/0 in 4 overs.
Sunil Narine led the KKR’s run-chase after Quinton de Kock and played quickfire innings 45 off 18 before falling short of completing fifty.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane played an unbeaten innings of 20 off 17 balls in the team’s 104-run chase.
When KKR required just three runs off 60 balls to win, Rinku Singh (15*) hit a winning six to take the team past the finishing line.
With a defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings registered three losses on the trot at home in this IPL season.