Sunil Narine's all-round brilliance gives KKR crushing win over Dhoni's CSK
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Sunil Narine rolled back the years to deliver a brilliant all-round performance for Kolkata Knight Riders as they crushed M S Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets at Chepauk on Friday.
Narine scored a powerful 18-ball 44 as KKR chased down a lowly target of 104 in just 10.1 overs. Narine had bowled beautifully to finish with enviable figures of 3/13 from his four overs. KKR have climbed into the third position in the points table with 6 points, while CSK's winless run has extended to five matches.
Earlier, when Dhoni arrived for the toss in his first match as captain since 2023, Chepauk was all smiles. But within two hours, gloom settled in as the hosts were restricted to 103/9, their lowest total in IPL 2025.
Dhoni lost the toss but declared he would have opted to bat anyway and put a good total on board. CSK had chased in all five of their previous matches and lost four in a row.
So, in hindsight, the toss wouldn't have mattered anyway, as Ajinkya Rahane's bowlers exploited the slow, gripping conditions at Chepauk to the hilt. One of Narine's prized wickets was the big man, Dhoni, who stepped in at 72/7 but was given out, trapped leg before for just one run.
For once, the 43-year-old, whose unadventurous batting had repeatedly brought up retirement talks, was not guilty of letting down his team. Rachin Ravindra (4), Ravindra Jadeja (0) and impact sub Deepak Hooda (0) couldn't do much.
Vijay Shankar scored a 21-ball 29, which comprised a six, hit off Moeen Ali in the second ball after powerplay, the only one in CSK's innings. Shivam Dube's patient 31 off 29 guided them to 100, which seemed impossible for the most part.
Rahane's bowlers were all rewarded; Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana bagged two wickets each, while Vaibhav Arora and Moeen Ali claimed one apiece.
Brief scores: CSK 103/9 in 20 overs (Shivam Dube 31 not out, Vijay Shankar 29, Sunil Narine 3/13, Varun Chakravarthy 2/22, Harshit Rana 2/16) lost to KKR 107/2 in 10.1 overs (Narine 44, Quinton de Kock 23)