CHENNAI Super Kings brought an end to Kolkata Knight Riders’ early-season invincibility on an old-school Chepauk surface. CSK returned home from two defeats on the road and were welcomed by a pitch that allowed them to put on a good old spin choke through Ravindra Jadeja, who picked three for 18 in 4 overs.

On a surface where the ball just didn’t come onto the bat, Mustafizur Rahman returned to reclaim the purple cap while Tushar Deshpande was effective too. Ruturaj Gaikwad then found the fluency to his strokeplay that had eluded him in the first four games.

CSK had picked zero wickets via spin in the first two home games this season. Ravindra Jadeja changed that in his first (and second over) to clip KKR’s wings. Raghuvanshi looked to take him on straight away and attempted a reverse sweep on the first ball, getting trapped leg before. In the same over, Jadeja saw the back of Narine with a full ball outside the off-stump that the left-hander went for a big hit. He ended up slicing the ball which went to Theekshana at long off.

It was one of those games where Ruturaj Gaikwad could bowl Jadeja out at once. Jadeja picked another wicket – of Venkatesh Iyer, with an innocuous half-tracker, and finished with a spell of three for 18. The spell also involved 11 dots.
CSK dominated the middle-overs with a spin choke, as Rachin Ravindra sneaked in an over worth four runs too. In the 11th over, when Shreyas Iyer hit a four off Jadeja – it was the first in 34 deliveries. KKR lost their way after the Power Play, getting 53/4 in the next 10 overs.

The new CSK captain shrugged off his underwhelming start to the season and found his timing in the PowerPlay. He drove and cut through covers and point to hit three fours of Anukul Roy before hitting a square drive off Vaibhav Arora, who dismissed Rachin Ravindra in his previous over. Gaikwad’s flurry of boundaries took CSK to 52/1 in six overs.

Daryl Mitchell took down Sunil Narine in his first over but Varun Chakravarthy bowled three good overs for just 13 runs. Andre Russell also started well on the sticky surface, only for Ruturaj to swivel-pull him for a four in his first over. Narine too bounced back quickly from a 14-run first over to give away just 10 in his next two and dismiss MItchell.

Gaikwad kept his drives coming and posted his best score at the venue – 67* off 58. Shivam Dube meanwhile, arrived and pulled Mitchell Starc for a four and then slammed Varun Chakravarthy for two sixes to fast-track CSK’s win. Dube’s dismissal in the 17th over meant the Chepauk crowd got the first glimpse of MS Dhoni batting at CSK’s home ground. He came to the middle with just 3 to get and saw it through with his successor in company in the 18th over. (Cricbuzz)