Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 32 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday, April 14. This win takes Chennai to No. 8 on the points table, displacing arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, KKR continue languishing at the bottom with four defeats from five games.
On Tuesday, KKR won the toss and invited CSK to bat first. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s dismal form continued as he perished in the third over. However, Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre stitched an enterprising 47-run stand off 22 balls to help CSK dominate the power play.
Mhatre and Samson scored 38 and 48, respectively, as KKR pulled things back with their spinners. Sunil Narine was brilliant once again, making life difficult for the CSK middle-order. However, Dewald Brevis and Sarfaraz Khan played well during a 51-run partnership off 29 balls to keep CSK in the hunt for a 200-plus total.
However, Kartik Tyagi bowled superbly at the death as the Knights restricted the Men in Yellow to 192/5 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Finn Allen was dismissed cheaply once again. Sunil Narine, who was promoted to open the batting, tried to play his natural game and scored 24 off 17 balls. Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi were dropped once each, but they couldn’t make CSK pay.
From 79/2, KKR slumped to 90/6 as Noor Ahmad and Akeal Hosein were exemplary through the middle overs. Rovman Powell and Ramandeep Singh forged a 63-run stand off 40 balls but that wasn’t going to be enough for the touring side as they eventually stopped at 160/7. Ramandeep top-scored for them with a 23-ball 35.
Talking Points
Noor Ahmad is back among the wickets
Noor Ahmad getting back into form was imperative for CSK. The talismanic spinner from Afghanistan had taken just one wicket in the first four games of the season and had an economy rate of 11.31. However, on Tuesday, he was back bowling at his best. He finished with excellent figures of 3/21 in four overs and won the Player of the Match award.
Youngsters do the trick for CSK
Over the years, CSK have relied on experienced players to bring them success. However, in recent seasons, they have backed youngsters, and it paid dividends on Tuesday. Firstly, it was Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis playing aggressive knocks in the first innings that paved the way for the five-time champions to post a challenging total. Then, it was Noor Ahmad who spun a web around the KKR batters.
KKR have a Cameron Green problem
KKR roped in Cameron Green at the IPL 2026 mini auction for a whopping INR 25.20 crore. The three-time champions would have hoped that he would fill the shoes of Andre Russell. However, the Aussie all-rounder has been far from his best. On Tuesday, he bowled two overs and conceded 30 runs. With the bat, he was demoted to No. 6, and Noor Ahmad sent him packing for a golden duck.
Who said what
Ajinkya Rahane, Kolkata Knight Riders captain:
No real momentum with the bat. Absolutely. I thought with the ball, we retreated really good. 190 on this wicket was really good, especially the powerplay what they got, 70 odd runs. After that, pulling back to 190 was an amazing job from our bowling unit. I thought initially with our batting, we just got 36 or 37 runs in the powerplay. I thought that was really important. Middle phase, to hitting spinners was slightly challenging, but apart from that, wicket was really good. We needed one batter to bat until deep and then take it in the end. I think it’s tough at the moment. Yes, we’re not winning matches, it’s tough. What is important for all of us as a group to stay positive, keep our head up, keep our chin up, just focus on the moment. Yes, we’ll have to sit in the dressing room, think about the combinations. We’ll have to make any changes. Sometimes you back the players, the results are going your way, then it’s okay. But if the results are not going your way, then you’ll have to think about the combination. But apart from that, I thought it’s all about being positive and keep our heads up. (on Tyagi) I think all credit goes to him. I mean, he’s working really hard in the nets. He’s been bowling really good and a great talent. The pace which he’s bowling at the moment has been amazing. So I’m really happy for him. Game by game, he’s improving his skills. (on their spinners) Yeah, all three spinners. I mean, if you see from CSK spinners also, they bowled really well. It was not easy for batters to hit big sixes unless you bowled really full. It was easy. Otherwise, putting it back and then going across wasn’t an easy option for the batters. So I thought from both the sides, spinners bowled really well. We just have to, as I said, keep that head up and just be positive and have that self-belief.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings captain:
Definitely feeling good, to be honest. I think again, we defended a good score. I felt it was a par score, given that, you know, the wicket drastically changed after the first, I would say, seven or eight overs. It started spinning a bit, it started stopping a bit. So, you know, we were first looking at 220, 210, but then, we thought anything around 190, 180 would be a good score and I think after that, we just had to get a good power play in bowling. After that, it was just about maintaining that run rate. (Talking about teams bowling) Yes, it was good. You know, slowly, slowly, it’s starting to come together, I feel. Everyone kind of knows what their role is, which overs, what to bowl, and what lengths to bowl at. So I think they are adjusting and adapting really well according to what team needs. As I said, slowly, slowly, we are getting better and better. And that’s a good sign for us. Yes, you know, we thought that, you know, since we wanted to kind of use Noor if we were short in padding, but we thought that, we had it covered and Akhil coming in the second innings, more of a power play bowler. But, Sunil Narine opening the batting, we thought, still it was gripping. So two right-handers in between, he can still get us good overs. So I feel he bowled really well, went under the radar, but I feel he bowled really well. Yes, I think we dropped everything that came, just took one or two, but still, I thought, I felt it was a bit okay. Today so a lot of sweat coming into the hands. Not an excuse, but definitely you would like to improve. As long as, there’s energy behind every ball, there’s intent and as I said, there’s attitude behind it, we are fine, even if we drop a few. Well firstly, I think, good to be on the winning side after a long time. I felt it was getting into the head even when I was batting, but after the last game, felt a bit relaxed and it is, I feel I’m feeling really good. Just make sure that do whatever the team needs, whatever the situation needs. And I feel even mentally, I’m feeling really well, feeling positive, and just a big, a big knock is just around the corner, but as long as the other guys are just covering up for me definitely I’ll do it when it’s needed.
Noor Ahmad, Player of the Match:
First of all, really happy to contribute for my team. Yeah, the dew was there, and it was humid, so just try to keep my fingers dry and yeah that helped me a lot to hit the right area. It was all about that. Yeah, really happy with the pitch. I think the ball was not coming really well to the bat and yeah to get advantage of that, it was a good. (Talks about confidence) Yeah, definitely it gives a lot of confidence. Yeah, I will keep putting lots of effort to contribute for my team in the coming matches. I think keep changing pace is best everywhere and every wicket and tonight, 90 above 90 is good.