Dhoni leads Super Kings charge

Mahendra Singh Dhoni upped the ante with a vigorous 66 not out from just 33 balls, carrying Chennai to 164 for three

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s commanding half-century proved sufficient for Chennai Super Kings to claim a comfortable 55-run Indian Premier League win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

The India captain hit an unbeaten 66 and put on 109 in an unbroken stand for the fourth wicket with Subramaniam Badrinath, who made 43 not out, as the Super Kings recovered from a poor start to reach 164 for three at Eden Gardens.

The run-rate, a mere 4.4 at the end of the first five overs, gradually rose above six and Chennai, with wickets in hand, were nicely poised for the push in the final overs.

Dhoni turned up the heat by smacking Ishant Sharma for 16 in the final over, despite the duo suffering a frightful collision while Dhoni completed a second run off the fourth ball.

The Knight Riders conceded 61 runs in the last four overs, Dhoni reaching his half-century - his fifth in the IPL - off only 28 deliveries.

When they replied, Brad Hodge, Manoj Tiwary, Sourav Ganguly, Owais Shah, Angelo Mathews and Rohan Gavaskar all went cheaply - to leave the home side tottering on 79 for seven.

The last-wicket pair of Ishant and Murali Kartik held up the Super Kings, but victory was eventually achieved when Kartik was run out.

Bad news followed for Dhoni however, who has been ruled out for 10 days with an elbow injury sustained when struck by Shane Bond early in his innings.

Suresh Raina will be the stand-in captain for Chennai while Dhoni recovers. He is expected to rejoin the squad on March 21 ahead of their home match against Kings XI Punjab.