CSK vs KKR: Dhoni laments lack of application by batters as Knight Riders outplay Super Kings at Chepauk

Chennai Super Kings’s (CSK) slide in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) continued on Friday with the five-time champions getting outplayed by current title holders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, their home ground. Sunil Narine (3/13 and 44 off 18 balls) was the star of the evening with a brilliant all-round performance as KKR cruised to a thumping eight-wicket victory with 59 deliveries to spare after restricting CSK to a meagre 103/9 at the end of 20 overs – their lowest total at home.

It was a forgettable homecoming for MS Dhoni on his return to CSK captaincy after two years as the ‘Yellow Army’ suffered their fifth defeat in a row after starting their season with a four-wicket victory over fellow five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians.

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KKR, meanwhile, jumped three places to the third spot on the IPL 2025 points table after collecting their third win in six outings and giving their Net Run Rate (NRR) a solid boost, thanks to their dominant performance at Chepauk that saw them dictate proceedings from the first delivery.

‘Thala’ calls for more application from Chennai batters

Dhoni, who was back to leading CSK for the first time in two years following a season-ending injury to Ruturaj Gaikwad, accepted the fact that the batting department had let the team down once again. Dhoni, scored just 1 after facing four deliveries while batting at No 9, added that the batters could hardly string any meaningful partnerships and called for more application on their part, even on tricky surfaces like the one that was used for Friday’s fixture.

“It has been quite a few nights that has not gone our way. The challenge has been there, we have to accept the challenge. Today I felt we did not have enough runs on the board. It has been the case over there, when we bowled in the 2nd innings it stopped a bit, today it did in the first innings.

“When you lose too many wickets, there is pressure and with quality spinners it is difficult. We never got any partnerships and bit more partnerships, application and we would be fine,” Dhoni said in his first post-match presentation ceremony since the 2023 final, in which he led CSK to their fifth title.

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Rahane, who had reinvented himself as a T20 batter during his two seasons in CSK colours (2023 and 2024), credited his bowling department for their clinical collective performance that ensured the home team did not cross the century mark until the final delivery of the innings.

Spinners 𝙍𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 their magic 🎩

Ft. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy 💜

Updates ▶ https://t.co/gPLIYGimQn#TATAIPL | #CSKvKKR | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/0pZPBNxS4g

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2025

“Credit goes to the spinners, our plans worked well today,” Rahane said after the victory.

“I thought the wicket would play together, it looked like a 170 type of wicket. But can’t take any credit away from the bowlers. Moeen played well - never easy to play just one game and then miss out, and then come back in. So did Sunny and Varun.

“Sunny went for runs in the last game, but came back strong. So did Vaibhav and Harshit. All in all a good bowling performance,” added the captain of the Mumbai cricket team.