IPL 2023: Rana & Rinku gun down 145 after spinners shine as KKR break 11-year jinx at Chepauk to beat CSK

Skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh slammed fifties apiece en route to a 99-run match-winning stand to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

Rana remained unbeaten on 57 off 44 balls while Rinku made 54 off 43 deliveries to set up KKR's chase of 145 runs after they lost their first three wickets for 33 runs inside the fifth over.

KKR finished at 147 for four in 18.3 overs with Rana leading from the front after making the most of a dropped chance.

Narine & Varun hunt in pairs

KKR's cause was helped to a large extent by a superb bowling effort earlier by spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, who did superbly and picked up two wickets each.

The defeat also puts on hold CSK's chances of sealing a play-off berth as the home side is in second spot with 15 points.

KKR, on the other hand, moved to 12 points with a match to play but their hopes rest on other results.

The Rinku & Rana show at Chepauk

Rana and Rinku, both left-handers, showed necessary skills and patience on a tacky pitch to negate the impact of CSK spinners after the home team had posted a moderate 144 for six in 20 overs.

The match-winning partnership between Rana and Rinku ended when the latter was run out by a direct hit from Moeen Ali.

CSK spinners -- Ravindra Jadeja, Maheesh Theekshana and Moeen -- could not do any damage after Deepak Chahar had provided the initial breakthroughs to leave KKR at 33 for 3.

CSK batters struggle in their own den

Earlier, talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to drop down the order backfired as CSK lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to the modest score.

Dhoni, who came out to bat no.7 position, remained unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls.

Opting to bat, CSK were 72 for five in in the 11th over before Shivam Dube underlined his utility, hammering a 34-ball 48 (1x4, 3x6s) to help the hosts somewhat recuperate in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 24).

The duo shared 68-run stand for the sixth wicket to take CSK close to the 150-run mark, which at one point of time looked out of reach on a sluggish pitch.

Spin duo of Narine (2/15) and Chakravarthy (2/36) were the pick of the bowlers for KKR and they were ably supported by Shardul Thakur (3-0-15-1) did and Vaibhav Arora (1/30).