MS Dhoni's venomous assault on Bangalore's bowlers took Chennai to a chunky score of 178-5 after they had elected to bat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
Chennai were batting sedately till the 15th over when Dhoni cut loose. His 65 runs from 30 balls took Chennai way past the 150 runs that they looked good for at one stage.
First it was Michael Hussey who took the lead in accelerating the score. However, in the period Hussey moved from 45 to 47, Dhoni jumped from 16 to 65 before the two got out to the last two deliveries of the innings.
Dhoni was severe on Dale Steyn, hitting him for four fours and a huge six over midwicket. It took him to a fifty in 24 balls.
The explosive finish hurt a good start by Bangalore's seam bowlers, who had done well to dismiss Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden cheaply.
Zaheer Khan finished with 3-38 but the rest of the bowlers weren't as impressive.
Challengers have logged two points and are languishing at sixth place in the eight-team championship while Super Kings are toppers with six points.