Brevis, Dube star in CSK’s two-wicket win over KKR

Dewald Brevis (left) and Shivam Dube during their 67-run stand yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

Chennai Super Kings, languishing at the bottom of the league ladder, all but knocked defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders out of IPL-18 with a two-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The Knights, their Playoff hopes hanging by a thread, have now walked into a complex mathematical improbability.

The visitors, chasing a target of 180 and with five wickets down, looked headed for defeat before Dewald Brevis ignited hopes by clobbering Vaibhav Arora for 30 runs in the 11th over. When the South African fell in the very next over, CSK had to fight again, but skipper MS Dhoni guided the youngsters at the other end as the yellow brigade crossed the line with a couple of deliveries to spare.

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Brevis scored a 25-ball 52, while Shivam Dube had a 40-ball 45. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 17 off 18 that had a huge six.

Trusting the bowling unit to defend a total, KKR again opted to bat first and it looked to be going that way as CSK lost half the side within the Powerplay.
Earlier, skipper Ajinkya Rahane top-scored for KKR with a 33-ball 48. Ravichandran Ashwin was back in action after being benched for the last three matches. But it was Noor Ahmed (4-31), introduced in the eighth over, who would have an immediate impact.

Brief scores
KKR 179-6 in 20 overs (A Rahane 48, A Russell 38, M Pandey 36'; N Ahmad 4-31) lost to CKS 183-8 in 19.4 overs (D Brevis 52, S Dube 45, U Patel 31; V Arora 3-48, V Chakravarthy 2-18, H Rana 2-43) by two wickets