The Chiefs fought back from 24-0 down after 20 minutes to defeat the Cheetahs 41-27 in the Super Rugby clash in Bloemfontein.
The Cheetahs, whose Super Rugby status hangs in the balance, started brilliantly but were made pay the price as they missed a remarkable 21 tackles in defeat.
After hitting the front through a Niel Marais penalty four minutes in, when the Chiefs pack stopped the Cheetahs maul, the ball was spread wide to Raymond Rhule to touch down to score.
The Chiefs' slow start continued as Damian McKenzie failed to gather a kick forward, leading to a lineout for the South African side on the 22 and they mauled their way over, with Torsten Van Jaarsveld touching down.
It got worse for the Chiefs at the end of the first quarter, as the Cheetahs turned the ball over and after a break from Clayton Blommetjies, he offloaded to Francois Venter who ran in to score. Marais added the conversion for a 24-0 lead.
Then came a turning point as the Chiefs won a penalty off a Cheetahs put in to a scrum and following a lineout the ball was spread wide to Toni Pulu who touched down. Cruden added the conversion and split the posts with his second conversion after Pulu touched down for his second try as the Chiefs trailing 24-14 at half-time.
The Cheetahs suffered a blow when Kane Hames was sin-binned shortly after the restart for collapsing the maul, but they pushed their lead out to 13 points with a Marais penalty.
Then the Chiefs kicked into gear in the final half hour. First Cruden kicked a penalty and then McKenzie created space which ended with Tawera Kerr-Barlow crossing to bring the New Zealand side back to within five of their hosts.
It was then the turn of Leinster-bound James Lowe to touch down on the hour, with Cruden pushing them in front for the first time in the game.
The Chiefs' quality was the difference as replacements Shaun Stevenson and Hikawera Elliot added tries in the final six minutes to round off the victory.