In the 56th game of IPL 2018, the hosts Chennai Super Kings (CSK) claimed a 5-wicket victory (with 5 balls to spare) against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune) on Sunday night. KXIP was bowled out for 153 runs in 19.4 overs while CSK successfully chased that target in 19.1 overs after losing 5 wickets.
CSK skipper MS Dhoni decided to field first after winning the toss. KXIP had very poor start as their top three batsmen were dismissed quickly when they put only 16 runs on the board. While the opener Chris Gayle scored a duck, another in-form opener KL Rahul was dismissed for just 7 runs and the no.3 batsman Aaron Finch departed on 4 runs.
Since then, KXIP middle-order batsmen handled that situation brilliantly and helped the team to put a respectable fighting total on the board. At first, Manoj Tiwary and David Miller put a crucial 60-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Before their departures in quick succession, Tiwary scored 35 runs and Miller scored 24 runs. After that, Karun Nair took the huge responsibly to add runs on the board while other lower-order batsmen failed to support him properly.
Nair completed his half-century in 25 balls and secured a 150+ total for the team. Nair was dismissed on 54 runs off 26 balls while KXIP was bundled out for 153 runs in 19.4 overs. It meant KXIP should restrict CSK for 100 or lower runs to qualify for the playoffs.
Lungi Ngidi was the best bowler in that innings who had an impressive bowling figure of 4-1-10-4. Also, Shardul Thakur (2/33) and Dwayne Bravo (2/39) got two wickets each while Deepak Chahar (1/30) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/23) claimed one wicket each.
In reply, CSK also had a pressure start as they went down on 27/3. Later, Suresh Raina played a brilliant responsible knock while Deepak Chahar clicked successfully who was surprisingly promoted in the batting order. Chahar played a firing 39-run knock off just 20 balls with only four and 3 sixes and set the momentum for CSK.
Raina was unbeaten at the end on 61 runs off 48 balls while skipper MS Dhoni was not out on 16 runs off just 7 balls. Those knocks were enough for CSK to chase that target as they reached the target in 19.1 overs after losing 5 wickets.
Among the KXIP bowlers, Ankit Rajpoot (2/19) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/36) got two wickets each while Mohit Sharma (1/28) picked up one wicket.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
If anybody can read MS Dhoni's mind, do stand up and identify yourself. All of us look for meaning post the event but nobody has a clue of what he is thinking about while things are actually happening!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 20, 2018
CSK is the only team to beat all the 7 opponents at least once in this IPL season….
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 20, 2018
6 overs 73 to win. No problem, @ChennaiIPL do it in 5.1 overs. Wonderful knock from @ImRaina , and very clever to send Bhajji and Chahar up the order and catch the opposition by surprise #CSKvKXIP
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 20, 2018
बाक़ी हुनर तलाशते हैं…
धोनी होनहार को तराशते हैं…
Deepak Chahar can bat…but this well?? Simply WOW 😲 #IPL #CSKvKXIP— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 20, 2018
Congrats to the @rajasthanroyals family for making the play offs – we did it ! So happy for everyone involved & what an amazing effort it was to comeback after the first half of the tournament !! Feeling very proud of you all right now ! 👍
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 20, 2018
Well played @ImRaina held it together and that one over finished it. Used all his experience to play out the burst from Mohit and Rajpoot and then close it out. #CSKvKXIP
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/karthikeyainu/status/998270471660437504
#CSK started with a last over win in the opening game of the league phase and finish with a last over win in the final game of the league phase #CSKvKXIP
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 20, 2018
Dhoni finishes it in grand style with a 6. To think at one stage they were in danger of being bowled out for 70-odd! Kudos to Raina, my MoM
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 20, 2018
[Billings gets OUT]
Crowd: Dhoni Dhoni DhoniHarbhajan walks in…
Crowd: WTF
[Harbhajan gets OUT]
Crowd: Dhoni Dhoni DhoniChahar walks in…
Crowd: WTFFFFFF
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) May 20, 2018
Kya ho raha hai iss match may? Actually KYA KYA ho raha hai iss match may 😄😄 Makes for great viewing #CSKvKXIP
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 20, 2018
Ashwin insulted Yuvi by sending Axar ahead.Dhoni doing the same thing today, but today not his batsman, Ashwin is getting insulted😂#CSKvKXIP
— Hemant Jain (@hemant_jain) May 20, 2018
At one stage it felt like KXIP might restrict CSK under 100 as well. Dhoni sends two random batsmen ahead of him and finishes off with one over to spare lol. #CSKvKXIP
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) May 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/998240430813663232
No wonder he is the King of Wicketkeeping!😍🤗@msdhoni @ChennaiIPL #CSKvKXIP #WhistlePodu #Yellove pic.twitter.com/26wgGeai9q
— MS Dhoni Fans Official (@msdfansofficial) May 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/998266193310973952
https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/998259449084039168
Rajasthan Royals' journey to the Play-Offs. pic.twitter.com/J3EPzzeSAe
— Karan Talwar (@BollywoodGandu) May 20, 2018
