Dewald Brevis’s explosive 25-ball 52, combined with a disciplined four-wicket burst from left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad, virtually extinguished defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL play-off hopes as Chennai Super Kings cruised to a thrilling two-wicket win at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
The Afghan spinner exploited the turning conditions brilliantly, picking up 4/31, to restrict KKR to 179/6 after Ajinkya Rahane opted to bat first in their must-win clash.
For CSK, their spin trio dominated the middle overs taking a combined 5/84 in 11 overs that proved to be the difference.
Chasing 180 under tricky conditions, CSK were rocked early on, losing half their side for just 60 inside 5.2 overs under the glowing Eden Gardens lights. But it was MS Dhoni who had the final say -- possibly for the last time at this venue -- finishing the chase with his trademark calm and power, as CSK completed the task with two balls to spare.
This was the end of KKR's campaign at home. They now have 11 points from 12 matches. The three-time champions play their next two matches away against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru and even in case they win both the games, they have to depend on other results.
With eight runs needed off the last over, Dhoni hammered Andre Russell’s low full toss for a towering six over deep mid-wicket, triggering wild celebrations.
He then calmly took a single, passed on advice to debutant Anshul Kamboj, who sealed the chase with a boundary.
As he walked off unbeaten on 17 from 18 balls, the Eden crowd rose one last time, savouring what could be a farewell flourish from their most beloved finisher.
Earlier, Vaibhav Arora and Moeen Ali struck in the first two overs before Harshit Rana picked up wickets in back-to-back overs to leave CSK reeling at 56/4 inside five overs.
CSK’s teenage prodigy Ayush Mhatre fell for a two-ball duck in the opening over of the chase.
New signing Urvil Patel, a like-for-like replacement for the injured Vansh Bedi, launched a blistering counter-attack, smashing Moeen Ali for two sixes and a four off his first three balls.
But Moeen hit back, dismissing Devon Conway for a duck in the same over.
Urvil continued his onslaught against Rana, striking a four and a six, before falling for a fiery 11-ball 31 (1x4, 4x6) in his debut innings.
The collapse deepened when Varun removed Ravindra Jadeja (19) in his first over, reducing CSK to 62/5 by the end of the powerplay. Fortunately for the visitors, the asking rate remained manageable.
From a precarious 60/5, Brevis launched a stunning counter-attack in the 11th over, smashing 30 runs off Vaibhav Arora to flip the script in CSK’s chase.
Brevis began the over with a reprieve, a powerful six that burst through the hands of Raghuvanshi, and never looked back. He followed it with two more sixes and three fours in the space of six balls, reaching a sensational 22-ball half-century.
Opting to bat, KKR were cruising at 67/1 at the power-play, before choking with Ahmad turning the tide.
His strikes included the explosive Caribbean duo of Andre Russell (38 off 21 balls) and Sunil Narine (26 off 17) against the run of play.
The Afghan spinner first broke KKR's rhythm immediately after the powerplay, striking twice in one over.
First, he dismissed Narine (4x4, 1x6) beaten in flight and stumped brilliantly by MS Dhoni. Four balls later, Angkrish Raghuvanshi edged behind to give CSK a double breakthrough.
KKR lost further momentum with Ravindra Jadeja taking the wicket of the in-form skipper Ajinkya Rahane who missed out his fifty by two runs in a 33-ball knock studded with four fours and two sixes.
The boundaries dried up and at one stage, they went 24 balls without a single four in the middle overs.
Their hopes then rested on Russell, fresh from a match-winning fifty in the previous game.
The explosive Jamaican shifted gears, smashing Jadeja for two fours and a six, and then launched Ahmad into the stands with a massive six off a googly.
But Ahmad had the last laugh, deceiving Russell (38 off 21 balls) with another well-disguised googly to end his explosive stint.
In his final over, Ahmad also removed Rinku Singh, wrapping up a terrific spell that broke KKR’s backbone.
From 67/1 in six overs, KKR managed just 112 runs in the next 14 overs, as CSK spinners collectively gave away only 55 runs in last five overs, throttling the scoring on a sluggish, turning track.
