IPL 2025, KKR vs CSK Synopsis: Dewald Brevis half century pushes KKR to the brink of elimination even as Rahane and Russell’s gritty knocks fall short.
have often struggled to chase down a 175+ score of late, but on a windy night at Eden Gardens, Dewald Brevis unleashed a storm as his blistering fifty pushed to the brink of elimination after a two-wicket defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings. chipped in with an important 45 while MS Dhoni stayed till the end and hit a six in the final over as got home with two balls to spare.
Brevis the missing piece
CSK’s chase started on a sour note with Vaibhav Arora sending back Ayush Mhatre for a duck. But debutant Urvil Patel put smiles back on CSK faces as he slammed three sixes and a four in the first six deliveries he faced with being taken to the cleaners.
Moeen, however, snapped up CSK’s second opener Devon Conway in the same over for another duck.
Urvil, meanwhile, continued on his merry way slamming his fourth six off Harshit Rana in the third over before perishing for 31 off 11 when he nicked Rana to Varun Chakravarthy at short third.
and tried to build a partnership but the former was sent back by Rana in the 5th over for 8 while the latter followed soon after as Varun cleaned him up for 19. The visitors were 62/5 after the Powerplay.
Dube and Dewald Brevis managed to steady the ship before Brevis exploded with three sixes and three fours to plunder 30 runs in an Arora over to bring up his 50 off 22 balls. By the time the young South African was sent back, CSK were smelling a win but had to be dragged over the line by Dube and Dhoni.
opted to bat first at Eden, a ground which typically aids chasers. But with the surface expected to offer turn as the match wore on, it was a decision based on ’s strong spin attack. But it would all depend on how well the KKR batters navigated the surface.
There was little cause for concern on that front with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz showing his intent off the first ball, slapping for a boundary before depositing Anshul Kamboj over the rope for a six in the second over. But the Haryana pacer had the last laugh when he snapped up the Afghanistan player in the same over for 11.
Rahane, who replaced Gurbaz, started off with a streaky boundary before picking up Khaleel for two boundaries in the third over as KKR’s decision to go hard in the Powerplay became apparent.
Narine got his first boundary with a miscued swivel-pull which went to third man off a top edge. He would greet Ashwin with two fours and a six, bringing up the hosts’ 50 in five overs. Rahane followed it up with a scoop shot for a six and a four as KKR raced to 67/1 by the end of the Powerplay.
Narine wouldn’t last long after the Powerplay, getting bamboozled by Noor Ahmad as Dhoni’s lightning-fast hands came into play. The CSK captain would be called into action again in the same over as he expertly snaffled a nick behind from Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 1.
KKR’s middle overs malaise kicked in soon after with boundaries drying up, even as Rahane and looked to build a partnership. After a couple of quiet overs, Rahane finally broke the shackles, slamming Jadeja over long-on for a maximum as KKR brought up their 100 in the 12th over. He departed trying to play a reverse-sweep off the left-arm spinner, lobbing it into the waiting hands of Conway at backward point for 48.
Andre Russell slammed two boundaries and a six as he threatened to replicate his fiery knock against . He continued the carnage against Matheesha Pathirana, swatting the Sri Lankan for a flat six and a four in the 16th over before repeating the same against Noor. However, he was gone in the same over for 38 as Noor got an important wicket.
Meanwhile, Pandey, who had struggled to hit a boundary for 21 balls, finally connected one for a six off Pathirana in the 18th over and stayed unbeaten on 36 as KKR posted 179/6.
KKR vs CSK brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 179/6 in 20 overs (Rahane 48, Russell 38, Manish Pandey 36 not out; Noor Ahmed 4/31) lost to Chennai Super Kings 183/8 in 19.4 overs (Brevis 52, Shivam Dube 45, Urvil Patel 31; Vaibhav Arora 3/48, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/18) by two wickets
