MUMBAI: Ajinkya Rahane's 44-run knock helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

KKR's six-wicket victory over CSK came with 9 balls to spare.

Chasing 132, KKR openers Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer provided their team with a great start by scoring 43 runs in the powerplay.

KKR lost wickets at regular intervals leaving the team's total at 87/3 in 11.4 overs but the healthy run-rate compensated for it.

KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer and Sam Billings came to the crease and took the score to 123 and Billings got dismissed by Bravo for 25 runs.

Later, Shreyas, who was then joined by Sheldon Jackson, took the match over the finish line with 6 wickets and 9 balls remaining in hand.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 50 provided Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with a decent total of 131/5 against Kolkata Knight Rider's (KKR) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at Wankhede stadium here on Saturday.

After CSK faced the early loss of wickets, MS Dhoni and current CSK skipper Ravindra Jadeja scored 26 as the duo steadied the ship albeit at a slower pace at first.

After losing the toss and put to bat first, CSK had a terrible start as the opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed on the third delivery of the game by Umesh Yadav. The other opener Devon Conway fell prey to Umesh's deadly spell and departed in the fifth over, leaving the team's total at 28/2.

Uthappa tried to anchor the innings with Ambati Rayudu but he got caught by Sheldon Jackson on Varun Chakaravarthy's delivery after scoring 28. Following Uthappa's dismissal, Rayudu got run out, after which Shivam Dube's departed, with the team's total at 61/5.

Later, Jadeja and Dhoni came together and ensured that there was no further damage. They had a quick partnership of 70 runs and brought CSK to the total of 131/5 in 20 overs.