Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) three-match IPL 2025 unbeaten streak by securing a narrow, two-wicket win in the last over at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday (May 7).

CSK chased down the target of 180 with two balls to spare, with Dewald Brevis top-scoring with 52 off just 25 balls.. For KKR, Vaibhav Arora (3/48) was the most successful bowler.

Earlier, KKR scored 179 for 6 after opting to bat. Captain Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 48 while Andre Russell and Manish Pandey chipped in with 38 and 36 not out, respectively, while Noor Ahmad was the most successful bowler for CSK with four wickets.

This has made the defending champions’ chances of securing a top-four place extremely difficult. KKR now have 11 points from 12 matches in the season and with only two matches left in the group stage, they can reach a maximum of 15 points.

As two teams, the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), have both reached 16 points each, KKR can no longer mathematically make it to the top two. The best they can do from now is do enough to reach the Eliminator to have a chance of defending the trophy.

However, even that won’t be straightforward. First and foremost, KKR need to win their remaining two matches — away to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru to hold onto the final chance. Losing either of those two, irrespective of the margin of the defeat, would eliminate them from the race.

Two wins will also not guarantee qualification. If they do that, they will have to hope Mumbai Indians (MI) lose both their remaining matches — against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Delhi Capitals (DC). In addition, they’ll also need DC to lose against PBKS and GT by very big margins and then also get the better of MI on May 15.

Furthermore, for KKR to have a chance, LSG must lose two of their remaining three matches. In such a scenario, KKR and DC will finish with 15 points each, and due to better NRR, KKR will qualify, but only in fourth place.

Given how complicated that is, and how many results KKR need to go in their favor, they’ll need a miracle to go through the next round and have no one but themselves to blame for it.