Chennai ground high-flying Knight Riders

Kolkata: From their heady highs, Kolkata Knight Riders were brought back to earth with a shattering defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Chasing 165, Kolkata faltered right from the beginning of their run chase as they were shot out for 109 with four balls to spare. Chennai shook off their defeat to Deccan Chargers and their convincing victory brings them right back in the competition.

Kolkata were off to a dreadful start when Albie Morkel got rid of Brad Hodge with the second ball of the opening over, before Manpreet Gony, playing his first game of the tournament, struck to send back Manoj Tiwary.

Kolkata never recovered from the early setbacks as only four of their batsmen got into double figures. Skipper Sourav Ganguly didn't look confident and departed after labouring to 11 from 20 balls. Justin Kemp was the most successful bowler for Chennai, picking up 3-12 from three overs while L Balaji struck twice.

Kolkata would look to shake off an off day when they play an injury plagued Rajasthan Royals in a bid to win back their momentum, while Chennai would look to capitalise on their thumping victory when they clash with Delhi Daredevils.

Earlier, MS Dhoni led from the front with a brisk half-century as Chennai recovered from early setbacks to post a competitive 164-3.

Dhoni clobbered an unbeaten 33-ball 66 while Badrinath scored 43 not out and added 109 runs after Chennai failed to get going in the first half of their innings after electing to bat.

Matthew Hayden disappointed for the second time in a row as Ishant Sharma castled him for one. Chennai struggled to get boundaries away against Shane Bond and Ishant, and the adding pressure accounted for the dismissals of Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay (33).

Dhoni and Badrinath got together with the team going at five runs an over, and the pair didn't disappoint by first working away the part-time bowlers, before a late flourish took them above the 150-mark.