Two teams from the top half of the Points Table were up against each other in 18th game of the IPL 2019. Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to bat first and named three changes in their team. Kings XI Punjab also made three changes in their squad and Chris Gayle came back into the team. Chennai started their innings with a solid start provided by Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson, who shared 56 runs for the first wicket. Watson got out to Ravichandran Ashwin but Du Plessis didn’t throw his wicket before reaching to his fifty. KXIP’s skipper removed two set batsmen off successive deliveries to suck the life from Chennai’s innings but Dhoni’s late blows took their total to 160/3 in 20 overs.
Punjab was in the hunt of the target despite losing two quick wickets in the second over. KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan scored half-centuries and shared a 110-run partnership for the third wicket. Things were looking easy for them to win when equations were reduced to 70 runs off 48 balls. CSK spinners build pressure on both set batsmen, which proved vital in the end. Punjab fell 22 runs short of the target as Chennai held their nerve in the death overs.
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Hits
Faf du Plessis (CSK)
South African batsman was playing his first game of the Indian Premier League 2019. Faf du Plessis looked in good touch and gave CSK a solid start along with Shane Watson as both shared a 56-run opening partnership. Du Plessis was hitting the ball well and raced to his fifty in no time. He took 38 balls for his 54 runs, which includes two fours and four towering sixes.
Ravichandran Ashwin (KXIP)
This was a homecoming for Ravichandran Ashwin after a long time. He was playing an IPL match in Chennai after a long time but he didn’t disappoint the spectators. Ashwin, first, dismissed Shane Watson in his second over before removing dangerous looking Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina off successive deliveries. He registered figures of 3 for 23 in his four overs, which helped Punjab restricting Chennai for 160/3 in 20 overs.
Harbhajan Singh (CSK)
Veteran off-spinner was introduced by MS Dhoni in the second over of the innings and he immediately dismissed Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal in a span of three balls. Harbhajan didn’t leak a single run in that over to reduce KXIP 7/2 in 2 overs. He finished the match with figures of 2/17 in four overs. This was his effort which helped CSK in winning the game.
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Sarfaraz Khan (KXIP)
Punjab’s number four batsman had to come in the middle after just two overs into their innings. Sarfaraz Khan played with grit and shared a crucial partnership with KL Rahul. They stitched 110 runs for the third wicket and took Punjab close to Chennai’s total. Sarfaraz scored 67 runs in 59 balls but failed to take his team over the line.
