Kolkata, May 3 - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (43 not out in 25 balls) continued his good form with the bat to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) post a challenging 177\/5 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.
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\r\nSkipper Dhoni -- who was dropped by Shubman Gill on 29 -- started the fireworks with a pullover midwicket off young pacer Shivam Mavi (0\/21) for a six.
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\r\nIn the next over, India's 50-over and T20 World Cup winning captain swatted out-of-sorts Mitchell Johnson (0\/51) for a flat six to set the tone for another of his vintage knocks. Dhoni's innings was laced with four sixes and one four.
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\r\nGill made matters worse for the hosts when the U-19 World Cup winning batsman let the ball burst through his fingers at the square leg fence with the ball going for a six.
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\r\nDhoni finished proceedings with a four off Piyush Chawla (2\/35) in the last ball of the final over but lacked that flourish which he has shown in his previous few innings.
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\r\nAlong with Ravindra Jadeja (12), he stitched together a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket.
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\r\nSunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, returning figures of 2\/20 in four overs.
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\r\nThe atmosphere was electric inside the stadium as well as outside, with much of the fanfare around the CSK side and their iconic skipper M.S. Dhoni.
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\r\nA sea of yellow engulfed parts of the Eden as every boundary was cheered vociferously, giving a feeling of it being an away match for KKR.
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\r\nFaf Du Plessis (27; 15b 4x4 1x6) and Watson (36; 25b 4x4 2x6) got off to a good start, helping CSK race to 48\/0 in five overs.
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\r\nJohnson was taken for 19 runs in the fifth over, getting spanked for two sixes and a four.
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\r\nChawla ended the 48-run opening partnership by getting rid of Du Plessis with a googly that disturbed his stumps. In the same over, new batsman Raina hit two boundaries before Karthik dropped the southpaw when he was on 8.
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\r\nAt the end of six overs, CSK were 57\/1.
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\r\nRaina (31; 26b 4x4 0x6) and Watson joined hands for a 43-run stand for the second wicket, helping the visitors to 90\/1 at the halfway stage, before the latter picked out Shivam Mavi at deep midwicket off Sunil Narine.
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\r\nIn the next over, Raina followed suit, trying to slog-sweep Kuldeep Yadav (1\/34) only to end up dragging a catch to Johnson at wide long-on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n