Mumbai, Mar 27 (IANS): A brilliant bowling performance followed by an impactful batting effort helped Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the opening match of the IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Saturday.

KKR bowlers -- Umesh Yadav (2/20) and Varun Chakaravarthy (1/23) bowled well and restricted Chennai Super Kings to 131-5 despite a fighting fifty by former captain MS Dhoni (50 off 38).

Ravindra Jadeja (26 off 28) who was leading the CSK for the very first time looked under pressure while batting but former skipper Dhoni scored a timely half-century and added 70 runs for the sixth wicket to take Chennai to a respectable total.

In reply, opener Ajinkya Rahane played a fine knock (44 off 34) while Sam Billings (25), Nitish Rana (20) and Shreyas Iyer (20 not out) also made valuable contributions with the bat as KKR chased down the target in 18.3 overs with six wickets in hand.

Dwayne Bravo was the most successful bowler for CSK with his figures of 3/20.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings -- 131-5 in 20 Overs (MS Dhoni 50 not out, Robin Uthappa 28; Umesh Yadav 2/20) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders -- 133-4 in 18.3 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 44, Sam Billings 25; Dwayne Bravo 3/20) by 6 wickets