KOLKATA: South Africa’s Dewald Brevis hit a 22-ball fifty as Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets on Wednesday, leaving the defending IPL champions in grave danger of missing the playoffs. Chasing 180 for victory, Chennai slipped to 60-5 in the sixth over before Brevis hit 52 and impact substitute Shivam Dube made 45 to steer the team home with two balls to spare at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni hit a six when Chennai needed eight off the last over and finished unbeaten on 17 with number 10 Anshul Kamboj hitting the winning four off Andre Russell. The result left Kolkata’s chances of making the playoffs hanging by a thread as they need to win their remaining two matches and hope other results go their way.

“It was really tough,” Kolkata skipper Ajinkya Rahane said of the defeat. “We were 10-15 short, 185-195 would have been an ideal total. The bowlers bowled really well but tough to be on the losing side. On the way forward, Rahane said, “Pretty simple. Try to win two out of two, and then see what happens from there.”

Five-time champions Chennai had already bowed out of the playoff race. Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad set up victory with his four wickets that kept Kolkata down to 179-6. In reply, Chennai openers Ayush Mhatre and Devon Conway both fell for ducks but IPL debutant Urvil Patel clobbered the Kolkata attack in his 11-ball 31.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy bowled Ravindra Jadeja but Brevis and Dube put the chase back on track in their carefully crafted stand. Brevis took his time to get going before he blasted 30 runs off Vaibhav Arora, reaching his fifty with three sixes and three fours in one over. Chakravarthy soon cut short Brevis’ blitz, but the left-handed Dube then found Dhoni for company.

Fans for Dhoni

Arora dismissed Dube as Rinku Singh clung on to a steepling catch before taking another opportunity to dismiss Noor, but Dhoni and Kamboj got the team through to just their third win in 12 matches. The 43-year-old Dhoni still remained the biggest draw for the Kolkata crowd and the former India captain who played down talk of imminent retirement, saying he would entertain his fans as long as he can.

“A lot of them don’t know when it is going to be my last time, so they want to come and see me play,” said Dhoni. “After this IPL is over, I have to work hard for another six to eight months to see if my body can take this pressure. (There’s) Nothing to decide now but the love and affection I have seen is excellent.”

Earlier Kolkata lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz early on 11 before Sunil Narine (26) and Rahane, who made 48, put on 58 runs to rebuild the innings. Noor broke the stand with left-arm wrist spin to get Narine stumped by Dhoni and three balls later had Angkrish Raghuvanshi caught behind for one.

Rahane was joined by Manish Pandey but was denied his fifty by Jadeja’s left-arm spin, spooning a reverse sweep to backward point. Pandey stood firm and combined to add 46 with Russell, who hammered 38 off 21 balls before Noor struck again to have the big-hitter caught at long-off.

Player of the match Noor removed Rinku for nine and despite Manish’s presence Kolkata’s total ultimately proved insufficient. Noor moved to 20 wickets in 12 matches alongside this season’s leading bowler Prasidh Krishna—Gujarat Titans pace bowler who also has 20 scalps but in 11 matches.

Meanwhile, India’s IPL cricket match on Sunday between Mumbai and Punjab has been moved to Gujarat, local media reported Thursday, quoting the state’s cricket authorities. The match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings was due to take place in Dharamsala, where the airport has closed in the wake of violence between India and neighbouring Pakistan. But Thursday evening’s match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, which is also set to take place in Dharamsala, will proceed as planned, as will all other games in coming days.

Sunday’s match will now be played in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat, the state’s cricket association secretary Anil Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency on Thursday. Several airports in northern India have been closed after New Delhi launched strikes on neighbouring Pakistan.

The strikes on Wednesday came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir—a charge Pakistan denies. The arch-rivals have since exchanged fire across their contested border in Kashmir. The violence has raised fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. – AFP