Narine three-for leads KKR's utter demolition of CSK

So that's what happened when Kolkata Knight Riders get the kind of pitch their spinners like. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali (12-1-55-6) went into Chepauk and burgled wickets away from the five-time IPL champions until they were a pale, weak shadow of themselves. Chennai Super Kings crumbled to 103 for 9, their lowest IPL total at home, suffered a fifth defeat in five successive matches, which had never happened before in their entire history, and are marooned in ninth place on the points table. Welcome back to captaincy, MS.

KKR (71 for 1) have made more than twice what CSK (31 for 2) did in the powerplay in this game.

CSK are trying to defend a well below par total so they made the mistake of chasing wickets.

And in doing so they ended up bowling too full on a pitch where you had to hit the deck and take pace off.

Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine are putting on a clinic of how to shut down a low-scoring chase. CSK meanwhile are making a mistake KKR did not. They have pitched the ball up on a surface that has offered a lot if you dig into it. The five-time champions are way off on their tactics this season

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, 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 KKR's 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 out 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 ball passed the bat. The third umpire Vinod Seshan though upheld on 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.

Shivam Dube walked in with the score at 59 for 3. He's faced only 13 balls but in that time, CSK have slumped to 75 for 8. He now only has the bowlers for company and needs to negotiate 4.3 overs.

Namooh Shah from our stats desk with this nugget: CSK have never got all-out since the impact player rule has come in IPL, only team to not get all-out.

Once again KKR work the match up. Dhoni falls to Narine for 1 off 4. He had to face only Narine and Chakravarthy while he was out there. He had slip waiting. He had short leg waiting. He was being crowded out. Then he was taken out. CSK 75 for 8. They're in danger of recording their lowest IPL total. They fell for 79 against Mumbai Indians in 2013.

Dhoni reviewed the lbw. And on DRS there appeared to be something like a spike as the ball passed the bat. The third umpire Vinod Seshan though didn't feel that was conclusive enough evidence and that decision has clearly rankled the CSK dugout. Coach Stephen Fleming has gone up to talk to the fourth umpire Tanmay Srivastava.

Ravindra Jadeja is gone. CSK are in panic mode. They decide they need Deepak Hooda's batting right now more than they might need Matheesha Pathirana's bowling later in the game so they pull the Impact Sub button early. CSK, in all likelihood, will be defending a below-par total a bowler down. And Hooda falls for a duck. CSK's season in free fall.

This is a slow pitch. Dig the ball into it, and it will respond. KKR have understood that. Eight of the first 13 overs were bowled by their spinners. Even their quicks have made sure to take pace off. Crucially, their control of length has been immaculate. Only seven times, in 13 overs, have they pitched the ball full - and two of those were yorkers.

Openers with zero confidence. A middle-order that just cannot be trusted. All that combines to R Ashwin walking out ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni.

This pitch has a lot for the slower ball. CSK might make a match of it with a total of 150-160. But that looks so far off right now.

Moeen Ali is done. 4-1-20-1. He's aced his match-up against CSK's left-handers. The highest strike rate any of them had against the KKR offspinner was 66.

At the start of the season, Ruturaj Gaikwad said CSK had settled on who their first-choice openers were. When they played Mumbai Indians, Rahul Tripathi walked in ahead of him. There was merit in that decision. Tripathi had a strike rate of 140 coming into this IPL season. That was built on a mindset of attacking every single ball, even if it was a good ball. He didn't mind looking ungainly. He didn't mind taking risks. Last season, at Sunrisers Hyderabad, he was quickly left behind as they found players capable of batting with even higher intent than he does. The shift to CSK was seen as an opportunity for him to revive his career. So far, that's not panned out. He was dropped. This team doesn't drop people all that often. And on his return, he falls to Sunil Narine for 16 off 22.

Vijay Shankar was already gone, undone by Varun Chakravarthy.

Vijay Shankar has been dropped on 0 and 20. Both looked like easy chances, Sunil Narine misjudging the first and running forward instead of going back and Venkatesh Iyer losing one in the lights at Chepauk. KKR's bowling has been pretty much unhittable but their fielders have been correspondingly vulnerable.

Moeen Ali's bowled a maiden. Harshit Rana's change of pace is gripping on the pitch and beating the bat. Sunil Narine is yet to come on. Andre Russell is still lurking.

There were 20 dots in those first 36 deliveries. Only once this season has a team been kept this quiet and KKR were responsible for that strangle too when they pinned Sunrisers down to 33 for 3.

Ten dots in the first 18 balls forces Devon Conway to take a risk. He goes for a reverse sweep to a ball in line with the stumps. If he doesn't connect, he risks lbw. He doesn't connect.

Ravindra faced four of those dot balls. His strike rate this season is 127. He looks so much more at ease in 50-over cricket when he knows he has time. This is the test for a young cricketer. Someone with an orthodox set-up. How do they adapt that game to T20's tempo.

Currently Ravindra's lagging behind. Opening batters in IPL 2025 are striking at 150. His struggles contributed to his partner's downfall. Six balls and no runs later, he falls too.

Funnily enough, Moeen goes for more runs in the middle overs (7.17rpo) when the field is spread out

That graphic up there doesn't make for fun reading for CSK fans but it does explain the biggest thing that's gone wrong for them this season.

Dhoni spoke about it at the toss. It didn't seem like he wanted the team to change too much. Just believe in themselves a bit more. He said CSK aren't a six-hitting team, that they are "authentic batters" and "not sloggers" and that they'll build their innings by hitting fours. Conway was able to get one away in the first over, moving confidently into a full and wide delivery and executing a smooth as silk square drive.

The toss didn't go his way but still MS Dhoni got what he wanted on his return as Chennai Super Kings captain. His team was asked to bat first. CSK, who have yet to win a game since their first one of the season, will be playing on the same pitch that match had taken place. They made two changes, both along expected lines. Rahul Tripathi came in for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is out of the season due to an elbow injury and Anshul Kamboj came in for Mukesh Choudhary (6-0-71-1).

Kolkata Knight Riders have a deep batting line-up and Ajinkya Rahane pointed to it as a major reason for why he wanted to chase. He also confirmed the return of Moeen Ali into the XI, a straightforward pick considering his offspin is a good match-up against a side filled with left-hand batters. Also, Moeen and Rahane too have experience playing on this ground having been part of a title-winning campaign with CSK in 2023.

Chennai Super Kings bat first XI: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Anshul Kamboj, 11 Khaleel Ahmed

Bench: Matheesha Pathirana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shaik Rasheed, Jamie Overton, Deepak Hooda

Kolkata Knight Riders bowl first XI: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Bench: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia

He is Chennai's very own and he is their biggest threat tonight. Especially on a pitch made of black clay, which means the ball is less likely to come onto to the bat. It'll be slow and maybe even low.