The Sharks' replacement hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle set up a tense finish with a late try but the Chiefs soaked up the final minutes deep in attack, clinging to the ball until Cruden could boot it into touch to seal the win.
"We're very pleased to get the win, albeit a fraction ugly, but that's what you've got to do against tough teams," Chiefs captain Sam Cane said in a pitch side interview.
"We didn't kick very well in that first half ... and we were forcing too many passes without building any phases so that was what was costing us. We tightened it up a wee bit in the second half."
The Chiefs leapt out of the blocks with a try in the opening minute to centre Seta Tamanivalu and stormed to a 15-3 lead after 23 minutes following another five-pointer to number eight Michael Leitch.
The Durban side pegged back the deficit with a try to prop Kyle Cooper who shoved over near the left corner after a text-book line-out drive.
Flyhalf Garth April beat four defenders in a brilliant, jinking run to grab a second try and level the game at 15-15 at the break.
All Black Cruden edged the Chiefs ahead with three penalties, his last giving the home side a nine-point lead with 11 minutes left.
It triggered a frantic Sharks assault on the Chiefs' line which ended with Ralepelle barging over at the back of another imperious rolling maul.
April's nerveless conversion from a tight angle made it a two-point game but at the end of a taxing New Zealand tour, the Sharks were unable to win back possession from iron-willed opponents bent on gritting out the win.
"I think we hung in there ... We just let them off the hook at crucial times," Sharks captain Keegan Daniel said after the team's fourth loss of the season.
"We've come away with six points on the tour so we'll look back and say 'we'll take six' and regroup back home."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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