Chennai Super Kings had an awful day with the bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL 2025. Playing at M Chinnswamy Stadium, the five-time champions registered their second-lowest total in the IPL history and lowest-ever at home. The MS Dhoni-led side struggled to get going from the very beginning and lost wickets at regular intervals as they eventually posted 103 runs on the board in the first innings.
CSK's lowest total at home was 109 against Mumbai Indians, while their lowest-ever total in IPL history is 79 against the same opponent. Against KKR, their batters showed no intent and in a way, surrendered against the spinners. Moeen Ali picked up the first wicket of the day, as Devon Conway departed for 12 runs while his opening partner Rachin Ravindra soon followed suit, scoring four runs. After that, Vijay Shankar tried to release some pressure by playing a few shots but he too could have gone back early if Sunil Narine and Venkatesh Iyer had caught him.
Nevertheless, Narine turned the tides with the ball, picking up a three-wicket haul. He dismissed Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni while his spin partner Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets for 22 runs. Narine meanwhile conceded only 13 runs in his four. On the other hand, Harshit Rana clinched two while Vaibhav and Moeen picked up one each.
Meanwhile, after the toss, Dhoni stated that he would have liked to bat first as well. However, CSK’s batting performance was extremely disappointing as they failed to live up their potential. Batting has been their biggest concern and the team management needs to address it immediately to compete for a playoff spot. KKR, on the other hand, will be hoping to get the job done in the second innings and pick up a comfortable win.