CSK vs KKR IPL 2022 match report: Kolkata get off to winning start despite MS Dhoni's fighting half-century

However, Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer got KKR off to a blistering start as they raced to 43/0 inside the powerplay. CSK soon got the breakthrough though as Iyer (16 off 16 balls) was dismissed in the 7th over when DJ Bravo entered the attack and got the opener to edge one back into the safe gloves of Dhoni.

Nitish Rana though ensured KKR didn’t lose any momentum as he smacked two fours and a six off the first 10 balls he faced. However, it was once again Bravo who got the breakthrough for CSK when he got Rana (21 off 17 balls) to mistime a pull straight to Rayudu in the 10th over.

Meanwhile, Rahane put on a classy display of perfect timing as he kept finding the boundary effortlessly, all the time playing proper cricket shots. Rahane looked set to begin life as a Knight Rider with a half-century but fell short by six runs when he found Jadeja at midwicket in the 12th over.

Sam Billings (25 off 21 balls) looked to finish things off in a hurry but became Bravo’s 170th IPL wicket when he found Tushar Deshpande at deep midwicket in the 18th over. That wicket also ensured Bravo is now level with the legendary Lasith Malinga on 170 scalps as all-time leading wicket-taker in the IPL.

Fittingly, it was Shreyas Iyer (20* off 20 balls) who scored the winning runs when he closed the game out with a boundary to ensure his maiden game both as player and captain for KKR got off with a win.

MS Dhoni rolled back the years as he posted his first half-century since IPL 2019, scoring an unbeaten 50* off 38 balls to help CSK reach 131/5. (Image: iplt20.com)

Earlier in the game, Shreyas won the Toss and opted to bowl. KKR decided to go with Sheldon Jackson behind the stumps despite including Sam Billings in the Playing XI and the decision paid off with the 35-year-old Jackson putting in an electric performance behind the wickets.

Umesh Yadav got off to an inauspicious start, sending down a no-ball on the first delivery and conceding a free-hit. However, he turned things around in double-quick time, sending back last season’s Orange Cap winner, Ruturaj Gaikwad, on a duck with his third delivery.

Yadav doubled his tally in the fifth over when Devon Conway (3 off 8 balls) looked to go for a big shot but ended up chipping the ball straight to the KKR skipper at mid-on for an easy catch.

Robin Uthappa came out all guns blazing, hitting 2 fours and 2 sixes to race to 28 off just 20 balls. However, he was outfoxed by Varun Chakravarthy who sent one spinning down leg and Jackson’s lightning quick glovework reduced CSK to 49/3 in the 8th over.

Things got worse for CSK in the next over when skipper Jadeja nudged one to short midwicket and Ambati Rayudu (15 off 17 balls) took off only to be caught in no-man’s land with Narine completing an easy Run Out at the non-striker’s end.

Shivam Dube survived another run-out scare, again with Jadeja at the crease, in the 11th over but was out on the very next delivery when he mistimed a pull shot against Andre Russell straight to Narine at midwicket to leave CSK reeling at 61/5 after 11 overs.

MS Dhoni then walked out to take strike alongside his successor but things were looking dire for Chennai as they managed just one boundary, courtesy a misfield, in the next six overs. However, with his team staring at a below par total, with just 85 runs on the board going into the final 3 overs, MS Dhoni, as he has on countless occasions in the past, rose to the occasion.

In vintage Dhoni fashion, the former CSK skipper rolled back the years as he went from 15 off 25 balls to 50* off 38 balls with a flurry of boundaries. Jadeja (26* off 28 balls) grabbed his solitary boundary off the final delivery which he sent flying over the ropes to help CSK post a modest total of 131/5.