Narine, Varun, Rana restrict CSK to 103 for 9

Right from the very start, spin dictated terms at Chepauk. Except these bowlers weren't wearing yellow. Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali strangled the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), their combined figures 12-1-55-6. CSK avoided being all out for their lowest total (79) in IPL history but only just. The 24 additional runs they managed do not seem match-winning; 103 is still their lowest T20 score at home.

MS Dhoni was back as captain of his team with Ruturaj Gaikwad injured and out of the season. He got what he wanted at the toss, for his team to bat first, but everything else played out according to Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) script. They brought in Moeen for the match-ups against CSK's left-handers. That worked. He bowled a maiden over as he took Devon Conway down.

They gave pace on for only five of the first 17 overs on a black soil pitch where the ball didn't come onto the bat. Even those guys concentrated on bowling slower balls into the wicket. This discipline was the reason CSK just couldn't break free no matter how often they tried. They recorded the second-lowest powerplay score in IPL 2025 - 31 for 2 - behind their own 30 for 3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They hit just three boundaries after the eighth over (one of them a top edge). They had to bring in Deepak Hooda as an Impact Player, accepting the risk of going in with a bowler short when they would have to defend this total but even that gamble backfired. Hooda fell for a duck and one of their key players, Matheesha Pathirana will not be able to take part in this game.

MS Dhoni walked out at No. 9 and was crowded by a slip and short leg. He had to face only Narine and Chakravarthy against whom he has a poor record and that match-up paid off as well. KKR dismissed Dhoni for 1 off 4, although he reviewed the lbw decision and there seemed to be a spike as the ball passed the bat. The third umpire Vinod Seshan, though, upheld the on-field decision and coach Stephen Fleming seemed to take issue with that as he left the dugout in search of the reserve umpire. To cap it all off, Shivam Dube seemed to have picked up a leg injury in the last over of the innings.