CSK registers five-wicket victory over KKR

Chennai Super Kings claimed their seventh victory in this season of Indian Premier League as they overpowered Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets here on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 162, CSK had a modest start, losing their first wicket early in the name of Shane Watson. Suresh Raina then joined the on-field batsman Faf du Plessis.

Plessis gave away his wicket in the sixth over bowled by Sunil Narine, who then continued with his great bowling performance to end his over as a wicket-maiden.

Rayudu and Jhadhav too were sent back to the pavilion in quick succession as Kolkata bowlers did not let any good partnership prosper but could not stop Chennai from adding runs to the board.

Then came out the CSK's skipper MS Dhoni, who along with Raina provided his team some momentum.

The duo formed a much-need partnership of 40 runs before Narine got hold of Dhoni. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat and started hammering boundaries along with Raina, highest run-scorer for CSK scoring 58 and put his team on a comfortable position to clinch their seventh victory in the season.

Earlier in the day, CSK won the toss and put the hosts to bat first. Kolkata got off to a decent start but the opening partnership between Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine did not last long as Mitchell Santner provided CSK with their first breakthrough as Narine gave a simple catch to Plessis off Santner's delivery.

Nitish Rana came to bat and formed a 41-run partnership with Lynn before Imran Tahir sent Rana back to the pavilion. In the same over, Tahir continued his magic sending Robin Uthappa back on duck.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik joined the opener Lynn and the duo added 42 runs on the board. Meanwhile, Lynn scored his second half-century in this season and scored crucial 82 off just 51 balls.

Lynn became a victim of Tahir and brought Andre Russell on the field. But Russell too was sent back by Tahir, who with this wicket bagged the purple cap, having 13 wickets under his belt.

KKR will now host Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 19 while CSK will visit Hyderabad to compete with Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 17.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings (S Raina 58*, R JAdeja 31*, S Narine 2-19) defeated Kolkata Knight Rider (C Lynn 82, N Rana 21, I tahir 4-27) by five wickets.