Chennai, April 26: When skipper M.S. Dhoni came down the track to hoist Murali Kartik over the long on fence, the Chepauk crowd went delirious, their team having left the Kolkata Knight Riders well beaten.

Chennai Super Kings continued their fine run in the IPL with a thumping 9-wicket win over after Matthew Hayden (70 not out, 48 balls, 6x4, 3x6) and Dhoni ensured the team did not loosen the grip once the bowlers had done a fine job of restricting the Kolkatans to 147.

Promoting himself to number three, Dhoni first stayed on the safe side before opening out to usher in victory with much to spare.

In the company of Parthiv Patel, Hayden had constructed the highest opening wicket stand in the IPL thus far.

With 66 having come in 8.2 overs for, the rest were only required to milk the bowling, which Dhoni did sensibly. Sourav Ganguly was so comprehensively outplayed that he did not seem to search hard enough for the breaks.Ishant Sharma who did his best to get a wicket with the new ball was taken off after two overs and the pressure came off visibly.

David Hussey and Mohammed Hafeez, both introduced a little early were muscled out of the attack by Hayden with towering sixes.

The rest of the attack just caved in. Chennai Super Kings top the table now with three wins from as many matches.

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings was a perfect example of how an innings can lose momentum if wickets fall regularly at the top.

There is place even in the maddening world of T20 for a batsman to bat through an innings.

But KKR were simply not up the task on Saturday before a packed Chidambaram Stadium.

Brendon McCullum had given his side the usual frenetic start. Knowing how much the team depends on the starts he provides like an aircraft taking off with full thrust, McCullum set the tone with three rousing shots in the second over from Manpreet Gony who was guilty of pitching too short. A free hit was hoisted over the infield by McCullum while the next two were slapped over covers and pulled over mid-wicket for four and six.

With Ganguly having got a boundary in the first over, things looked ominous for the Super Kings.

What followed set the visitors back by some distance. Oram, after being hit for easily one of the biggest sixes in this venue, came back well to have McCullum driving one off the leading edge to covers.

Ricky Ponting walked in to a warm welcome and left quickly, checking his drive to give Raina his second catch in as many balls.

Wriddhiman Saha looked sedate at the start of his innings but settled down quickly to pick three boundaries off Amarnath.

The next over from Gony, which was also the last of the power play overs, saw Saha’s defence breached. Dhoni got his fields spot on.

Removing the slip he crowded the cover cordon and the bowlers responded by maintaining a line just out side the off-stump.