Live Report - IPL 2023 - Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai

Nitish Rana hits the winning runs as KKR win with nine balls remaining. They're now one of four teams with 12 points - RCB and Punjab Kings have a game in hand, though - and they remain in contention for a playoffs spot, but it's still a difficult task for them, because they haven't improved their net run rate all that much today, going from -0.357 to -0.256. Difficult sort of game for a big NRR improvement, given the conditions, and they couldn't keep going too hard in their chase once they lost three wickets in the powerplay.

Interviewed after the match, MS Dhoni is quite clear about where he thinks CSK lost the match: they batted first when the pitch was tricky to bat on, and dew set in later and made conditions much easier for the chasing team. Having said that, he knows he took the decision to bat first.

A win today would have sealed a playoffs spot for CSK. They're still in a good position to go through, but their chances of finishing in the top two may have taken a hit.

Rinku and Rana bring up their half-centuries, off 39 and 38 balls respectively, and KKR start the 18th over needing 13 off 18 balls. They look for the single that'll bring up the century partnership, but it's a tight one to Moeen in the covers, and a direct hit at the bowler's end sends back Rinku for 54 off 43.

Of all left-handers to have scored at least 200 runs against offspin in the IPL, Nitish Rana is the only one with a strike rate of above 150.

How is he so good against the ball turning away from him? Lots of reasons, but one of them is how good he is at hitting inside-out. Two fours over the covers in the 13th over, off Moeen, and KKR continue to march towards victory.

Rinku adds to the punishment CSK's spinners are taking with a slog-sweep for six off Jadeja in the 14th. KKR need 40 from 36 balls now.

It's almost always an advantage to chase because you know exactly how much you need to score. And KKR are going nicely here in that knowledge, with Rana and Rinku now having put on a measured half-century stand. They've found the boundary when they've needed to as well, with Rana reverse-sweeping Moeen over short third and Rinku hitting Jadeja for a flat, straight six in the last two overs.

In between, CSK could have sent back Rana, but a top-edged sweep off Moeen is dropped by Pathirana sprinting in from deep backward squaare leg.

KKR are 84 for 3 in 12 overs.

Rinku Singh hits two fours off Moeen in the ninth over - a crisp drive past extra-cover and a thick edge over slip - and that ensures KKR stay in control of their required rate, after Moeen and Maheesh Theekshana had given away just 3 and 4, respectively, in the previous two overs.

Those boundaries have prompted CSK to bring on Matheesha Pathirana much earlier than they usually do. They need wickets, quickly, to get back in this.

It's been all Chahar and Deshpande so far, as KKR end the powerplay at 46 for 3. Moeen Ali is the first spinner introduced, in the seventh over. Two left-handers at the crease in Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh. The former enjoys playing spin, offspin in particular, and the latter prefers pace onto the bat. We should be in for an interesting next few overs, with both teams still in the game.

It'll also be interesting to see when and if Dhoni will use Jadeja, if these two left-handers remain in the middle for a while.

KKR are 33 for 3 in 4.3 overs, and Deepak Chahar has taken all three wickets. He isn't running through KKR with swing in both directions or anything. His three wickets have been caught at deep point, caught at short third, and caught at short third once more now, with Jason Roy looking to drive a full knuckle ball through the covers, and getting a thick edge that carries nicely to short third despite the lack of pace.

And there seemed to be a plan behind it, or certainly a good awareness of Venkatesh Iyer's game. He likes to stay leg-side of the ball and sit back and lash the ball square on the off side, and he'd already hit two fours in the over in roughly that manner, but that mode of batting always keeps the edge in play. He goes hard at a back-of-a-length ball in the corridor, and is caught at a fine short third - possibly a hedge-your-bets field placement with no slip in place - by Ravindra Jadeja.

The fact that Jadeja was stationed there also suggests CSK may have expected a catch there, though it could also be because he got hit on the ankle while trying to evade a Shivam Dube drive at the non-striker's end, and he may not be able to run around as much as he usually does.

KKR are 21 for 2 in 2.5 overs.

A painful first over for Rahmanullah Gurbaz in more ways than one. He inside-edges Deepak Chahar into the unprotected part of his right knee, after which he requires medical attention. Then he looks to slice a full ball over the off side, off the last ball of the over, and connects pretty well, but he's caught well by Tushar Deshpande sprinting to his right from deep backward point.

Not the finish the Chennai crowd may have hoped for, with Dhoni only getting to play one scoring shot, a double down the ground off the last ball. Before that he was even bowled off a free-hit. This is how Dhoni's time at the crease went:

In any case, CSK get past 140, which gives them something to bowl with, on a pitch where the spinners have been excedingly difficult to get away. Dube's unbeaten 48 off 34 might be worth a lot more on some other pitches.

Varun Chakravarthy, local boy and one of KKR's bowling heroes today, says the pitch flattened out a little after starting out sticky. Let's see how it plays when his team bats.

A sense of restlessness in the Chepauk crowd through the final over. They want big hits, but they want a wicket early on so Dhoni can come in. Neither happens for the first three balls, as Vaibhav Arora mixes up yorkers and into-the-pitch slower ones and concedes just four runs.

But the stands explode after the fourth ball, a slower bouncer from Arora that Jadeja ramps straight to short third. In walks Dhoni, with two balsl to go.

The stadium DJ has absolutely killed it this season with Dhoni's intro music. Deivarayan Muthu, who's at the stadium, tells me it's "yaar endru therigiradha" from the Kamal Haasan starrer Vishwaroopam today.

Excellent figures from Shardul Thakur, and he finishes off with a superb 19th over, conceding just five runs, including a wide. He bowled from over the wicket to the two left-handers, and slanted wide yorkers across them for most part, slipping in one slower ball on the stumps to mix things up.

The first ball of the 18th over shows why Varun Chakravarthy is so hard to hit. It's quick, it ends up at around thigh height, and it gives Shivam Dube no room to work with. Two balls later, though, he overpitches marginally with a wrong'un, and Dube clears his front leg and smokes a six over midwicket, showing just why he's been one of the most dangerous spin-hitters in the IPL this season.

There was a chance for Ravindra Jadeja to take two runs off the fourth ball of the over, but Dube simply walked the first run, because he wanted the strike. Varun finishes with typically strangling Varun lengths off the last two balls, but Dube manages to take four runs off them, with a pair of doubles manoueuvred into the gap between long-on and deep midwicket. Excellent batting on a tough surface, and he's now batting on 43 off 29 balls.

Suyash Sharma's inexperience shows, with two long-hops either side of a no-ball. Jadeja and Dube smash a six each, and CSK pick up 16 from the 17th over.

... and no wickets. At the 16-over mark, CSK are 99 for 5. Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube have batted cautiously up to this point. What kind of score will CSK be happy with, and will they attack the remaining overs from the spinners? It's Suyash Sharma to bowl the 17th over. It's his third. You would assume Varun Chakravarthy, who has one over left, will bowl one of the three after this.

The offbreak sent back Rayudu, and a skiddy carrom ball sends back Moeen Ali later in the over. Looks to defend off the back foot, but it beats him for both turn and pace - I think it skidded through a little lower than Moeen may have expected. CSK are in deep, deep strife at 72 for 5, but you could hear a roar of half-anticipation when that wicket fell.

They've gone quiet again, because no Dhoni yet. Ravindra Jadeja is in at No. 7.

Sunil Narine hasn't had the most fruitful season in terms of wickets - he had only taken one wicket in his last eight games coming into this one, but he's struck in his third over here. Ambati Rayudu is bowled looking to sweep him, and CSK are 68 for 4 in 10.1 overs. You could see why Rayudu tried that shot, because CSK hadn't hit a boundary since the fifth over.

A short ball from Shardul Thakur gets big on Devon Conway as he shapes to pull, and he's caught on the square leg boundary. He goes for 30 off 28, and CSK are 66 for 3 in 9.3 overs.

A strange innings from Conway. He hit three fours, but for much of his innings he seemed content to rotate the strike. Feels like CSK may have set their sights on 160 or so, because the ball isn't coming on consistently on this pitch. They even sent in Ambati Rayudu at the fall of Rahane's wicket rather than Shivam Dube, who has usually batted at No. 3 or 4.

Anyway, Dube is in now.

Varun Chakravarthy, the only Chennai boy in the two XIs today, quietened the Chennai crowd early in the eighth over with the seemingly plumb lbw dismissal of Devon Conway, but bounce saved Conway after he called for a review.

Varun gets his second wicket later in the over, however, with the turn on his legbreak causing Rahane to slice his lofted drive after stepping out. Simple catch at long-off, and CSK are 61 for 2 in eight overs.

Ajinkya Rahane hasn't had a lot to do since Alagappan Muthu wrote this ode to his new-found sixiness, but he's begun ominously today. He's faced four balls and hit two of them to the boundary, both off Harshit Rana: a calculated late dab for four, and an effortless pick-up over wide mid-on for six.

There's some turn here for the spinners. Ruturaj Gaikwad looks to slog-sweep Varun Chakravarthy in the fourth over and ends up top-edging to short third. Gaikwad had already swept Varun for a four earlier in the over, and seemed in the mood to go after the spinner.

He's out for 17 off 13, and CSK are 31 for 1 in 3.3 overs. KKR had bowled seam through the first three overs, and Gaikwad and Devon Conway had both looked comfortable while getting to 25 for 0.

Just as he did in CSK's last game at Chepauk, against Delhi Capitals, MS Dhoni chooses to bat first. CSK defended 167 in that game, and quite comfortably at that.

KKR captain Nitish Rana said he'd have liked to bat too, and says the pitch looks a little "sticky".

Typically, CSK make no changes. Just the one for KKR, with the seamer Vaibhav Arora replacing the spin-bowling allrounder Anukul Roy.