Knight Riders thrash CSK as Dhoni’s men hit new IPL low

Kolkata Knight Riders handed Chennai Super Kings their fifth-straight loss of the 2025 IPL on Friday at Chepauk Stadium, beating the five-time champions by eight wickets with 59 balls.

The defeat is Chennai’s worst of the season and first time ever they have lost five in a row in the IPL.

Asked to bat first, CSK’s struggling batting lineup put on another poor showing in front of their home fans, stuttering to just 103/9 from their 20 overs.

Kiwi openers Rachin Ravindra (4 from 9) and Devon Conway (12 from 11) failed to make an impression at the top of the order, leaving the hosts at 16/2 in the fifth over.

While Chennai’s middle order of Rahul Tripathi (16 from 22), Vijay Shankar (29 from 21) and Shivam Dube (31 from 19) managed to stem the flow of wickets, the trio were far too cautious in their approach.

Needing to pick up the run rate, the remainder of CSK’s batsmen crumbled in the face of KKR’s spin as six wickets fell for 14 runs over a miserly spell of bowling led by Sunil Narine (3/13).

In response, Kolkata were never troubled.

Cricket betting odds had been in their favour pre-match, and with IPL bookies now pricing them as enormous favourites to collect their third win of the tournament, KKR’s openers got stuck in.

Quinton de Kock (23 from 16) and Narine (44 from 18) knocked off the lion’s share of the chase, with Ajinkya Rahane (20* from 17) and Rinku Singh (15* from 12) seeing the visitors over the line for a heavy victory as they posted 107/2 in just 10.1 overs.

“Quite a few nights haven’t gone our way,” CSK captain MS Dhoni said after the match.

“Need to look deep down inside.

“Challenge was there, but we needed to tackle.

“Didn’t have enough runs on the board today.

“With quality spinners, it is difficult. We didn’t get partnerships as well.

“A couple of conditions where we have done well.

“We have quality openers and it is important not to get desperate seeing the scoreboard.

“A few boundaries and the score keeps moving, if we target 60, it gets tough.

“If we lose wickets, the middle order needs do heavy-lifting and the slog never comes.”

Five-time champions Chennai are now all but out of the title race in this year’s IPL, slipping to odds of $51 to win the competition in 2025.
KKR, meanwhile, shorten to $11 at BetOnline.

Delhi Capitals ($5) still head up the outright betting market at top bookmakers, with Gujarat Titans ($5.50), Punjab Kings ($6) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru ($6) next.

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