Andre Russell had a welcome return to form with the bat but was unable to prevent the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from falling to their third defeat in four matches in the Indian Premier League earlier today.

The Jamaican all-rounder smashed three fours and six sixes in his 22-ball 54 as KKR fell 18 runs short of their target of 221.

Russell and Dinesh Karthik put on sixth-wicket stand of 81 runs in just 36 balls to rescue KKR from a precarious 31-5 after Deepak Chahar ran through the top order taking four of the first five wickets to fall.

Karthik faced 24 balls for his 40 that included four fours and two sixes while Pat Cummins, helped KKR get close to the target, hitting four fours and six sixes in his unbeaten knock of 66 as KKR were bowled out for 202.

Lungi Ingidi took 3-28 for Chennai while Chahar, the top-order destroyer, took 4-29 and was involved in two runouts, a performance worthy of the Man-of-the-Match Award.

Faf Du Plesis named Man-of-the-Match

However, that honour went to Faf Du Plesis for his unbeaten 95 that powered Chennai to their score of 220 for 3.

The South African and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on an opening stand of 115, before the latter fell for 64.

Du Plesis then added 50 for the second wicket with Moeen Ali, who only faced 12 balls for his 25.

MS Dhoni scored 17 from the eight balls he faced before he lost his wicket to Russell as Chennai went past 200 run in the 19^th over.

Du Plessis then smashed two sixes off Cummins and Ravindra Jadeja added another from the only ball he faced as CSK plundered 19 from the last over to set up their winning total.

Russell took 1-27 from the two overs he was allowed.

The loss means that KKR now sit second from bottom of the IPL table on two points with just one win from their four matches. Chennai, meanwhile, sit atop the table with six points after securing their third win of the tournament today