Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury made Mahendra Singh Dhoni the captain of the Chennai Super Kings early this week.
Dhoni’s return as the CSK captain did bring positivity across the fanbase. However, his first game as the CSK leader since the 2023 IPL final did not turn well on Friday.
The Kolkata Knight Riders beat the home side by eight wickets, chasing the target of 104 runs in just 10.1 overs.
At the MA Chidambaram Stadium, KKR won the toss and chose to field first. New Zealanders Rachin Ravindra (4 runs) and Devon Conway (12) failed to give a solid start.
Rahul Tripathi’s 16, Vijay Shankar’s 29 and Shivam Dubey’s unbeaten 31 set a base in the middle.
But Ravichandran Ashwin and MS Dhoni were able to score one run apiece. To make things dangerous, Ravindra Jadeja and impact player Deepak Hooda went back to the pavilion after not contributing even a run.
As a result, CSK were able to add 103/9 in 20 overs.
Sunil Narine led KKR’s bowling lineup in style, with taking three wickets for 13 runs in four overs.
IPL legend Narine did get the backing from Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana, taking two wickets each.
Unlike CSK, KKR did not fail while batting. Quinton de Kock added crucial 23 runs as an opener. De Kock’s opening partner Sunil Narine did shine with the bat also, blasting 44 runs in 18 deliveries.
After Narine’s dismissal, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane (20 runs) and Rinku Singh (15) remained unbeaten and led the team to a comfortable win.
Kolkata are in third place in the IPL 2025, having collected six points in six matches (winning 3, losing 3).
Meanwhile, it was Chennai’s fifth defeat of the season. They are ninth in the IPL, having won just one match.
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