CSK’s regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament owing to a hairline injury while MS Dhoni took over the captaincy responsibilities. CSK was expected to get back on track under their five-time IPL title-winning captain but made a struggling start against the arch-rival KKR.

During the CSK vs KKR clash at Chepauk, CSK managed to score just 103 runs for nine wickets at the end of 20 overs.

CSK’s 103 against KKR also turned out to be the second-lowest total by any team at Chepauk after RCB’s 70 all-out against CSK in 2019.

Lowest 1st innings totals for CKS in IPL

• 97 vs Mi, Wankhede, 2022
• 103/9 vs KKR, Chennai, 2025*
• 109 vs rr, jaipur, 2008
• 110/8 vs DD, Delhi, 2012

For the first time, CSK have lost five consecutive games in their IPL historyand this is also the first time CSK have lost three games in a row at Chepauk in a season.

Speaking of the game, KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rachin Ravindra and Conway opened the inning for CSK while Vaibhav Arora opened the bowling attack.

CSK made a slow start by scoring just 16 runs off the first three overs. Moreover, this is the second instance in the season that CSK remains wicketless after three overs.

CSK’s batting in the first three overs in IPL 2025

• 24/1 vs me
• 13/2 vs RCB
• 5/1 vs RR
• 20/2 vs DC
• 22/0 vs PBKS
• 16/0 vs kkr*

Moeen Ali in the first delivery of the fourth over dismissed Conway for 12 runs and made an early breakthrough. In the very next over, Harshit Rana dismissed Rachin for 4 runs and contained CSK for 31 runs for 2 wickets at the end of first powerplay.

Following a terrible power play, Vijay Shankar and Rahul Tripathi made a decent stand and added 43 runs for the next wicket. Varun Chakaravarthy broke the partnership by dismissing Vijay Shankar for 29 runs.

Following his dismissal, CSK’s batting lineup struggled to face KKR’s aggressive bowling attack. With Shivam Dube’s 29 balls 31 runs, CSK managed to score 103 runs for nine wickets at the end of 20 overs.

While chasing, Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine opened the inning while Khaleel Ahmed opened the bowling attack. Narine kickstarted the with a six and made an aggressive start.

The duo continued to attack the CSK bowlers and pushed KKR’s score to 46 runs without losing a wicket at the end of 4 overs. Anshul Kamboj in the fifth over dismissed de Kock for 23 runs and made the first breakthrough.

But Rahane and Narine continued to dominate the CSK bowlers and dragged KKR to score 85 runs for 1 wicket at the end of 7 overs.

Noor Ahmad, in the first delivery of the eight over, dismissed Narine for 44 runs, but the dismissal won’t impact KKR anymore as they were in a strong position. KKR chased down the target in 10.1 overs and defeated CSK by 8 wickets at the Chepauk.