Chennai crumble to fifth straight IPL loss against rampant KKR

Sunil Narine helped KKR limit Chennai to just 103-9 runs in their innings, their lowest IPL total at home, before they made light work of the chase, reaching their total of 107-2 with 59 balls to spare.

Chennai, playing their first game since MS Dhoni returned as captain, struggled to find their rhythm, with Devon Conway (12) trapped lbw by Moeen Ali before Rachin Ravindra was dismissed by Harshit Rana (2-16) for four shortly after.

Narine (3-13) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2-22) then came to the fore, with Rahul Tripathi (16) and Vijay Shankar (29) both gone by the end of the 11th over.

Shivam Dube kept Chennai slowly ticking along with an unbeaten 31, but his stand would be in vain as five of the lower order were taken for a duck or with just one, leaving them with a mountain to climb with KKR at the bat.

After initially taking a patient approach, KKR soon changed to a more aggressive tactic, with Quinton de Kock plundering 23 before Anshul Kamboj sent stumps flying at the start of the fifth over.

Narine's fine form with the ball carried over, with his knock of 44, which included two fours and five maximums, doing most of the damage before Noor Ahmad delayed the inevitable with his dismissal.

Ajinkya Rahane (20) and Rinku Singh (15) got the victory over the line, with the latter hitting the winning six to send KKR third in the IPL table. Chennai sit second from bottom.

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— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 11, 2025

Chennai have had their batting struggles so far in 2025, and they continued against KKR on what was a torrid day for the hosts.

They scored just 31 runs in the powerplay, their second-lowest total of the season behind the 30-3 they made against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Chennai were up against a force in Narine, though - it was the 16th time he bowled four overs in the IPL without conceding a single boundary.