Dhoni is not pleased with CSK’s batting at the death: Rotation of strike was important, but I think there were hardly any boundaries in the final few overs, so we need to be innovative at the end when they are continuously hitting a back of a length. That’s where we need to adapt better with the bat and I don’t think we did that.

Dhoni: Close to 160, we should have achieved as a team. The batsmen let down the bowlers.

CSK 157/5 (20 overs; Jadhav 7, Jadeja 21)

KKR beat CSK by 10 runs. Superb bowling in the back 10 has got KKR a win they so badly wanted. Superb fightback.

CSK 142/5 (19 overs; Jadhav 6, Jadeja 7)

Chennai Super Kings need 26 runs in 6 balls. CSK were 90/1 after 10 overs. But from 11-14, they only got 14 runs.

CSK 132/5 (18 overs; Jadhav 1, Jadeja 3)

Really poor from CSK. Jadhav has 1 off 6 balls in a tight chase and he is batting like a tailender. Random swipes at the ball.

CSK 129/5 (17.1 overs; Jadhav 0)

WICKET! Russell into the attack and he strikes with his first ball. Curran is unable to clear the infield. Chennai Super Kings need 39 runs in 17 balls

Sam Curran c Morgan b Russell 17(11)

CSK 129/4 (16.3 overs; Curran 17)

WICKET! Dhoni misses and Chakravarthy hits. Swipe across the line misses. Chennai Super Kings need 39 runs in 21 balls.

Dhoni b Chakravarthy 11(12)

CSK 124/3 (16 overs; Dhoni 7, Curran 16)

Chennai Super Kings need 44 runs in 24 balls. 14 off the last over. Curran hitting Narine for a six and a four in the over. But we are in for a tight finish.

CSK 109/3 (15 overs; Dhoni 6, Curran 4)

Last boundary came in the 10th over. KKR have done well to dry up the runs. Chennai Super Kings need 58 runs in 30 balls. Dhoni will look to take it deep.

CSK 101/3 (13.1 overs; Watson 50, Dhoni 1)

WICKET! And Narine gets Watson. Why wasn’t Narine brought into the attack earlier? Trapped LBW, CSK took the review, it was clipping leg stump.

Watson lbw b Narine 50(40)

CSK 101/2 (13 overs; Watson 50, Dhoni 1)

Dhoni has come up the order, leaving us all to wonder what exactly Kedar Jadhav’s role is in this side once again. Meanwhile, Watson has got to his 50 off 39 balls. Chennai Super Kings need 67 runs in 42 balls.

CSK 99/2 (12.1 overs; Watson 49)

WICKET! Against the run of play, Rayudu hit one straight to a fielder in the deep. He didn’t need to but he has. KKR have a wicket and an opportunity to get back in the game. Can they get Watson too?

Rayudu c Shubman Gill b K Nagarkoti 30(27)

CSK 99/1 (12 overs; Watson 49, Rayudu 30)

Narine finally comes on to bowl. How will CSK play him? Two well set batsmen in them middle. Chennai Super Kings need 69 runs in 48 balls.

CSK 94/1 (11 overs; Watson 48, Rayudu 26)

Good over by Cummins – just 4 runs off it but KKR desperately need wickets and they haven’t looked close to getting one.

CSK 90/1 (10 overs; Watson 43, Rayudu 24)

Chennai Super Kings need 78 runs in 60 balls. Easy does it from this point on. If they play like the veteran side they are, this is already in the bag unless something drastic happens. Still no Narine. What is happening here?

CSK 78/1 (9 overs; Watson 37, Rayudu 22)

Chennai Super Kings need 90 runs in 66 balls. Steady. They are doing it right. Meanwhile, Karthik still hasn’t even got Narine in to bowl despite the spinner’s good record against Watson.

CSK 69/1 (8 overs; Watson 30, Rayudu 20)

Chennai Super Kings need 99 runs in 72 balls. This is already in Dhoni territory now. KKR need wicket if they want to put pressure on CSK and they need them now.

CSK 62/1 (7 overs; Watson 28, Rayudu 15)

8 runs off Chakravarthy’s over. CSK are making all the right moves. Getting the one big hit every over and taking enough singles too.

CSK 54/1 (6 overs; Watson 26, Rayudu 9)

A four and six off consecutive balls showed just how well Watson is batting at the moment. He isn’t trying to hit the ball too hard. Just waiting and hanging in there, knowing the chance will come.

Chennai Super Kings need 114 runs in 84 balls. They are going at 9 an over. RR is 8.14. Strategic timeout.

CSK 41/1 (5 overs; Watson 15, Rayudu 7)

Steady stuff from CSK and they will believe they need to do just so much. 127 runs needed from 90 balls. Very much in control.

CSK 30/1 (3.4 overs; Watson 12)

WICKET! du Plessis is walking back. He tried to make space and swung his arms at the ball but only got an edge through to the keeper. Big wicket this, Mavi the bowler.

du Plessis c Karthik b Shivam Mavi 17(10)

CSK 25/0 (3 overs; Watson 7, du Plessis 17)

Two Cummins overs are out of the way and CSK have lost no wickets to him. Faf continues his great run of form – lovely pulled four in the over.

CSK 18/0 (2 overs; Watson 7, du Plessis 11)

Faf teaching Mavi a few lessons here. Consecutive fours off the last two balls. CSK are up and away. How will KKR respond?

CSK 6/0 (1 over; Watson 5, du Plessis 1)

CSK are off to a steady start. A few early wickets with set the cat among the pigeons and KKR need that to happen.

9.40 pm: Rahul Tripathi’s knock has propelled KKR to 167 in Abu Dhabi. Can CSK hase this down? We’re ready for the second innings!

KKR 167 (20 overs; Cummins 17)

WICKET! Stunning work from Dhoni once again. But CSK have done so well in the back ten. After ten overs, KKR were 93/2 but then CSK kept picking wickets to restrict them in a big way.

Chakravarthy run out (Jadeja/Dhoni) 1(1)

KKR 166/9 (19.5 overs; Cummins 17)

WICKET! Dhoni took off his right glove to prevent the quick single but the edge from Mavi flew towards him, he got a hand to it and then took it on the second attempt. Brilliant!

Shivam Mavi c Dhoni b Dwayne Bravo 0(1)

KKR 163/8 (19.2 overs; Cummins 14)

WICKET! Another wicket for Bravo and a dot ball too. Batsmen manage to cross over.

K Nagarkoti c du Plessis b Dwayne Bravo 0(2)

KKR 162/7 (19 overs; Cummins 11)

Karthik’s poor run with the bat continues. Dropped by Jadeja earlier in the over, this time he finds Thakur in the deep.

Karthik c SN Thakur b Sam Curran 12(11)

KKR 154/6 (18 overs; Karthik 7, Cummins 11)

Cummins has come in and hit a few big shots and that is exactly what KKR need.

KKR 140/6 (16.4 overs; Karthik 5)

WICKET! Tripathi’s brilliant innings comes to an end. Full delivery from Bravo and Tripathi only managed to hit it towards Watson in the slip region. Tripathi did all the heavy lifting for KKR.

Tripathi c Watson b Dwayne Bravo 81(51)

KKR 128/5 (15.1 overs; Tripathi 74)

WICKET! Russell falls. Thakur gets the big wicket! Cross-seam delivery and the big KKR batsman didn’t connect with his swipe as he would have liked. A nick through to the keeper.

Russell c Dhoni b SN Thakur 2(4)

KKR 128/4 (15 overs; Tripathi 74, Russell 2)

Tripathi goes on and on. KKR need him to at this point. He is the set batsman. KKR have lost momentum. After that big 19-run over from Bravo, KKR haven’t really gone after the bowling.

KKR 114/4 (14 overs; Tripathi 62)

WICKET! Morgan has been dismissed. He falls to the short ball from Curran. Surprised the batsman.

Morgan c Dhoni b Sam Curran 7(10)

KKR 109/3 (13 overs; Tripathi 56, Morgan 6)

Morgan has come in and he is already striking the ball well. But these are good batting conditions, what is a good total here? Strategic timeout time.

KKR 98/3 (11 overs; Tripathi 56)

WHAT A CATCH! Jadeja and du Plessis combine on the boundary line to send back Narine. Karn gets the wicket. Jadeja caught the ball well on the boundary line but found himself sliding into the boundary line. That is when he just popped the ball over to du Plessis, who was on hand to complete the catch.

Narine c du Plessis b Karn Sharma 17(9)

KKR 93/2 (10 overs; Tripathi 53, Narine 15)

19 runs off the Bravo over. Two fours and a six in the over. Both Tripathi and Narine, who has been sent in before Karthik, getting into the act.

KKR 70/2 (8.1 overs; Tripathi 46)

WICKET! 12 runs in his first over and a wicket off the first ball of his second. Karn Sharma sends Rana back. The left-hander was caught in the deep by Jadeja.

Nitish Rana c Jadeja b Karn Sharma 9(10)

KKR 70/1 (8 overs; Tripathi 46, Rana 9)

Steady over by birthday boy Bravo. Just 6 runs conceded.

KKR 64/1 (7 overs; Tripathi 41, Rana 8)

Karn Sharma into the attack and he was greeted by a six off Tripathi’s bat. This is a solid start for KKR, thanks to Tripathi. They now have the platform that will allow their big-hitters to really go for it later on.

KKR 52/1 (6 overs; Tripathi 31, Rana 6)

Tripathi continues to roll on. He picked Chahar’s slower ball and smashes it for a six. He has 31 off 18 balls. The Powerplay overs are done.

KKR 41/1 (5 overs; Tripathi 23, Rana 4)

Rana slashes and slashes hard to get going. It runs away to the third-man boundary.

KKR 37/1 (4.2 overs; Tripathi 23)

WICKET! Thakur gets Gill once again. The KKR opener went for the big shot, got the inside edge through to the keeper.

Shubman Gill c Dhoni b SN Thakur 11(12)

KKR 36/0 (4 overs; Tripathi 23, Gill 11)

Tripathi has found his rhythm now. This isn’t slogging. Some proper cricketing shots here. Another two fours in the over. This will also allow Gill to get set for the long haul.

KKR 25/0 (3 overs; Tripathi 14, Gill 9)

Poor bowling from Chahar. Tried a bit too many short deliveries and got punished. Three fours in the over, KKR are off and running.

KKR 10/0 (2 overs; Tripathi 5, Gill 3)

Curran getting some movement early on. But another good over for CSK – just 3 runs off it. Maybe KKR were better off with Narine after all.

KKR 7/0 (1 over; Tripathi 5, Gill 0)

No Narine at the top of the order but he hasn’t had much of an impact this season. Just 7 off the first over. Steady stuff from Chahar.

1930 hrs IST: CSK start things off with Chahar. Tripathi and Gill are opening the innings for KKR. Narine is not there at the top of the order.

1905 hrs IST: Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders XI: S Gill, S Narine, N Rana, A Russell, D Karthik, E Morgan, R Tripathi, P Cummins, K Nagarkoti, S Mavi, V Chakravarthy

Chennai Super Kings XI: S Watson, F du Plessis, A Rayudu, K Jadhav, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, S Curran, DJ Bravo, K Sharma, S Thakur, D Chahar

1900 hrs IST: KKR have won the toss and have elected to bat first. No changes in the KKR lineup. One change for CSK – Karn Sharma comes in for Piyush Chawla.

Under-fire Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik will have to figure out urgent fixes for his star-studded team’s faltering performances when they take on a resurgent Chennai Super Kings in the IPL at Sharjah on Wednesday.

KKR have plenty of resources at their disposal but they haven’t quite got around to allocating them well. Karthik’s captaincy and form have been below par and that seems to have held them back and the team management will hope he can put his best foot forward, in both departments, today.

CSK, on the other hand, aren’t exactly out of trouble either. But their 10-wicket win over KXIP in their last match will allow them to carry a lot of confidence into the game.

Here’s how the two teams have matched up over the years:

Span Matches CSK wins KKR wins
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