Live Report - Brevis, Dube and Dhoni all but end KKR's playoffs hopes

...and he's all but finished off KKR's hopes too. He doesn't get the winning hit, but he's very much CSK's hero at the finish.

First, he muscles the first ball of the last over, bowled by Andre Russell, for a six over midwicket. Then he refuses a single to long-off. That brings it down to two off four. Russell bowls a good blockhole ball next, and Dhoni stabs it into the mid-off region, thinks about not taking the single, and takes it in the end, which brings the scores level. Anshul Kamboj is on strike with three balls left and two wickets in hand. He wins it off his first, cool as you like, chipping Russell over mid-on for four.

What a finish. And what a crazy game. Take away that one over of raw genius from Dewald Brevis, and who knows how this would have ended.

Another twist. What a nerve-racking 19th over from Vaibhav Arora. He tries to bowl wide yorkers to Shivam Dube, and there are two marginal wide calls. KKR overturn the first on review, but the second one stands. That prompts Arora to shift his line straighter, and Dube smashes him over long-on for six. That brings CSK's equation down to 10 off nine.

Then Arora bowls another full ball, but Dube mishits it, slices it over the off side, and Rinku Singh takes an excellent catch to leave CSK seven down. Ten off eight, with MS Dhoni at the crease. What more could you want from a T20 finish?

Update: It comes down to eight off the last over, with two wickets in hand and Dhoni on strike. Noor Ahmad gets a double first ball, but ends up caught at long-on, by that man Rinku again, while trying to flat-bat Arora's last ball down the ground.

Shivam Dube has only hit two sixes in 33 balls so far, and that's nothing like the rate we expect from him, but today the circumstances have called for selective risk-taking from him. He's been nothing if not selective with those two sixes, waiting on the slower ball from Harshit Rana that's floated a little too full and into his arc.

He's now on 37 off 33, Dhoni is on 7 off 12, and CSK need 22 off the last 18 balls.

And Dhoni, who had scored 60 off 111 T20 balls against the two of them before today, while being dismissed six times, doesn't have to face either of them anymore. He's nearly out off Narine's last ball, but the ball beats his cut rather than finding the top edge.

CSK need 48 off the last six overs.

Bowls a legbreak or carrom ball from around the wicket, and Brevis, looking to clear long-on, hits it straight to the fielder instead. He's out for 52 off 25, and KKR need 53 off 47, with only four wickets in hand. It's an ODI kind of situation, something MS Dhoni in his prime dealt with countless times. Can the MS Dhoni of 2025 see CSK through this chase?

Wow. KKR go back to pace after five straight overs from Varun and Narine, and Dewald Brevis absolutely dismantles Vaibhav Arora in this 11th over, which goes for 30 runs. The last ball, flat-batted past extra-cover for four, brings up Brevis's half-century, off just 22 balls. There's a lot of CSK support at Eden Gardens today, and that section of the crowd is going absolutely wild.

KKR were 78.02% favourites to win before that over, according to our forecaster. Now CSK are 78.05% favourites. Incredible.

CSK now need 57 off 54 balls.

That's overs 6 to 10. Thirty-seven runs off 30 balls against KKR's mystery-spin twins. Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube have been together for most of that time, and are starting to build a partnership. CSK need 87 off the last ten overs.

Ravindra Jadeja was playing a bright little innings, hitting the ball cleanly down the ground in getting to 19 off nine balls. Then he gets out to an innoccuous wrong'un from Varun. He probably picked it, and was looking to steer it through point off the back foot, but it may have stopped on him a bit. Glances off his back pad, then hits inside edge, and then the stumps.

CSK are 60 for 5 in 5.2 overs.

An old weakness of Ashwin, driving on the up without his weight going fully forward. He's been out caught at gully or backward point many times like this in Test cricket, and now he slices Harshit to backward point to fall for 8 off 7. CSK are 56 for 4 in five overs.

You've done pretty well to be called the "big wicket" on your IPL debut, but that's what Urvil Patel's done today. Four sixes in his 31 off 11 balls, the latest a flat-bat swat over wide long-on off a slower ball from KKR Impact Player Harshit Rana.

Then he gets a thick edge off a full ball outside off stump - I think he was looking to go over mid-off or extra-cover - and the ball is absolutely flying to the left Varun Chakravarthy at short third, but he moves quickly and catches it two-handed. CSK are 37 for 3 in three overs.

The catch seems to have hurt Varun's hand. He goes off the field, and Anukul Roy comes on as a substitute fielder.

Those two great pals, Ashwin and Jadeja, are now batting together.

Urvil Patel hit more sixes than any other batter (29) in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, so you might have expected him to be quite the six-hitter. But would you have imagined he'd hit three off the first seven balls of his IPL career? That's what he's done so far, with that flicked six off Vaibhav Arora followed by two in three balls against Moeen Ali.

Having absolutely crushed his match-up, though, Urvil takes a single and brings the left-handed Devon Conway on strike. Moeen's first ball to Conway is nicely flighted, and Conway looks to drive with the turn, through the covers. There's no turn, though, and the ball slides between bat and pad and bowls him. Nasty bit of natural variation there. CSK are 25 for 2 in 1.5 overs.

And wow, CSK have sent in R Ashwin at No. 3.

Slaps Vaibhav Arora straight to point, and CSK are 0 for 1 in 0.2 overs.

Two balls later, Urvil Patel hits his first scoring shot in the IPL. An effortless flicked six. Young batters these days...

Noor Ahmad took four wickets on a sharply turning surface as Chennai Super Kings kept Kolkata Knight Riders to 179 for 6 in Eden Gardens’ last league match of IPL 2025. On one of the most spin-friendly surfaces of the tournament – there were 20 not-in-control shots against spin during KKR’s innings, the joint second-most of any innings this season - CSK’s three spinners took a combined 5 for 84 in 11 overs.

Given the conditions, and given the fact that they have Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali in their attack, KKR may well have been the happier side going into the innings break.

Choosing to bat first, KKR probably knew they had to make the most of the powerplay, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz set the tone before becoming the first batter dismissed for 11 off nine balls. He hit a four and a six, swung hard and missed on numerous occasions, and then chipped one straight to midwicket.

Narine and Ajinkya Rahane continued in that spirit, and took KKR to 67 for 1 at the six-over mark, hitting eight fours and two sixes between them during the powerplay. Neither looked in full control – Rahane survived a chance when a diving Matheesha Pathirana put him down at long leg – but both went hard at the bowling in this period. Narine, coming into this game having scored 118 off 48 balls against R Ashwin while only being dismissed once, took 14 off the offspinner in the fifth over.

With the fields spread, Ashwin’s next over, the seventh, only went for two. With the ball often turning square, KKR didn’t hit a single boundary in the first four overs after the powerplay, and lost two wickets. Both fell in Noor’s first over, with Sunil Narine stumped after the ball slipped between his legs, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi feathering one behind.

Rahane and Manish Pandey – who came in for the injured Venkatesh Iyer – then put on 32 off 28 balls, before Andre Russell arrived to give KKR the late push they desired. His 21-ball 38 was the driving force behind KKR scoring 70 off their last six overs, even though Matheesha Pathirana closed out the innings with a 20th over full of singles.

Lovely catch from Ayush Mhatre on the square leg boundary, juggles it after initially jumping to grab it overhead, then almost losing his footing but recovering while also ensuring he doesn't stray onto or over the boundary cushions. Rinku Singh goes for 9 off 6, and KKR are 167 for 7 in 18.3 overs.

Superb innings from the big Jamaican. He's out for 38 off 20 balls, and that includes considerable damage to the figures of Jadeja and Noor on a spinner's pitch. Was beaten a few times, and didn't always look in control, but he's given KKR a genuine injection of momentum. Hits Noor for a four - which beat Devon Conway on the cover boundary with some sharp turn off the outfield - and a six in the 17th over before holing out to long-off.

Noor has 3 for 21 from three overs.

Brave approach from Russell to take on Jadeja in the 15th over. Two fours and a six, with one of the fours coming off the outside edge, and the six, down the ground, more of a slice than a clean strike. But he took that chance and it came off. KKR are 124 for 4 in 15 overs. Two overs of Noor remain - will Dhoni use both of them?

Rahane scored 30 off 17 in the powerplay. He had only made 18 off 15 thereafter, despite hitting a six, before deciding to take on the reverse-sweep against Jadeja. Picks out backward point, and he's out for 48 off 33. A lot of the slowdown was down to the conditions, with the ball turning square on occasion.

KKR are 103 for 4 in 12.2 overs. Andre Russell walks in.

That's overs 7-10. Ashwin-Noor-Jadeja-Noor.

Two in four balls for the left-arm wristie. Wrong'un now, to Raghuvanshi, and he reaches out and tries to steer it fine on the off side. Only manages an edge that Dhoni gobbles up to his right. KKR are 71 for 3.

Manish Pandey comes in now. I thought he'd only bat if genuinely needed to, but perhaps KKR don't want Rinku, Russell and Ramandeep facing a lot of spin on this pitch.

KKR are 69 for 2 in 7.1 overs.

The seventh over showed that these are going to be tricky conditions for quick scoring when the fields are spred, with Ashwin getting plenty of turn while conceding just two runs.

Then Narine jumps out to Noor Ahmad's first ball of the match, has a big swing at it, looking to go leg-side, and misses. The ball sneaks between his pads and rolls to Dhoni, who completes the stumping. Narine is out for 26 off 17 balls.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi is in at No. 4.

KKR have dominated this powerplay, showing plenty of intent, and why not - they have Moeen Ali slotted at No. 9 - even if they haven't always had the control to go with it.

It isn't just Gurbaz and Narine who've swung at pretty much everything, but even Ajinkya Rahane. He's enjoyed one early chance, with Matheesha Pathirana putting down a diving chance at long leg, and he's hit four fours and a six while moving to 29 off 14 at the end of the powerplay.

Same boundary count for Narine, as he moves to 25 off 13.

I think this is an excellent powerplay score given that the ball has already stopped a few times, seamed a bit, and turned quite a lot on occasion.

Before today, Sunil Narine had hit R Ashwin for 118 runs in 48 balls in all T20 games while being dismissed only once. Despite that, and despite being hit for three sixes and a four inside the powerplay by Narine in the reverse fixture, Ashwin comes on to bowl the fifth over.

That over goes for 14, with Narine hitting him for two leg-side fours and launching him for a six over long-off, off the back foot.

A short and eventful innings from the Afghanistan keeper-batter. Drove the first ball of the match for four, then played and missed three times against Khaleel Ahmed's seam movement. Then he slogged Anshul Kamboj for six, then stepped out for a wild swing and miss, and then flicked him straight to midwicket.

He's out for 11 off nine balls, and KKR are 11 for 1 in 1.3 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, has chosen to bat first against Chennai Super Kings, in Eden Gardens’ last league game of IPL 2025. KKR are still in the playoffs race with three league games left, but likely need to win all three to stay in contention. CSK are already out of the race.

KKR come into this game having won their last two, back to back. They batted first in both those games, and this, Rahane said, was one of the reasons for his decision at the toss. The pitch at Eden Gardens wore a tacky look before the start of play, with a few loose plates on its top surface – spinners from both sides could come into play as the match goes on.

KKR were without Venkatesh Iyer, who picked up an injury while training on the eve of the match, and has stitches in his hand. Manish Pandey came in for him. KKR named a starting XI that bats deep, with Moeen Ali slotted at No. 9. Harshit Rana is their likely Impact Player, though Anukul Roy or Mayank Markande could also come in if the pitch proves particularly spin-friendly.

CSK made three changes, handing Urvil Patel – recently signed as a replacement for the injured Vansh Bedi – a debut and bringing back offspinner R Ashwin and the New Zealand top-order batter Devon Conway. They replaced Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran. Shivam Dube, who starts on the bench, is expected to come in during their chase as their Impact Player.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Moeen Ali, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
Impact Player list: Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ayush Mhatre, 2 Urvil Patel, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Ravindra Jadeja, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 R Ashwin, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Anshul Kamboj, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Matheesha Pathirana.
Impact Player list: Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh.