It was all smiles for the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as they registered a comprehensive win over the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Those stunning shots were back from Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis as they decimated the KXIP bowlers completely. They registered the fourth-best opening partnership in the history of IPL and comfortably chased down 179 with 10 wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare.
The approach from Faf And Watson the teams have changed as even KXIP opted to bat first after winning the toss. And once again their openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started off well as they added 61 runs for the opening partnership. Piyush Chawla gave the much-needed breakthrough to CSK picking Agarwal’s wicket after which Mandeep Singh smashed some huge sixes.
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However, Mandeep only managed to score 27 runs, but Rahul kept on doing well in the middle. Nicholas Pooran also showed aggression with the bat as he was scoring at a strike-rate of more than 200. But then, Shardul Thakur’s 18th over changed things.
The Caribbean southpaw was dismissed off the first ball and followed by the dismissed of Rahul on the very next ball owing to MS Dhoni’s diving catch. They ended at 178/4 in their 20 overs scoring only 26 runs in the last three overs.
CSK needed a good start which MS Dhoni had been talking right from the first game of the season and Watson was looking in a good nick from the word go. Faf du Plessis was always in great form and made sure that runs kept flowing throughout the innings. Soon the team’s score had gone past the 100-run mark and KXIP was looking hopeless. Their fielding was poor overall even as both Watson and Du Plessis played chanceless knocks. They went past their fifties in style as well and kept on plundering the KXIP bowling.
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With wickets not falling at any stage, they just kept finding gaps and finished the game in the 18th over itself with 10 wickets in hand. The duo of Du Plessis (87*) and Watson (83*) stitched a record opening stand for CSK in the IPL ever.
Match Summary:
Chennai Super Kings – 181/0 in 17.4 overs (F du Plessi: 87*, S Watson: 83*) defeated Kings XI Punjab – 178/4 in 20 overs (KL Rahul: 63; S Thakur: 2/39, R Jadeja: 1/30) by 10 wickets and 14 balls to spare
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Highest targets chased down without losing a wicket:
184 KKR v GL, 2017 (Lynn/Gambhir)
179 CSK v KXIP, today (Watson/Faf)
163 MI v CSK, 2012 (Tendulkar/D Smith)
155 DC v MI, 2008 (Gilchrist/Laxman)
139 CSK v KXIP, 2013 (Hussey/Vijay)#IPL2020 #CSKvKXIP
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 4, 2020
And that’s the way to do it 💪 Superb Innings 🏏 All my love to @chennaiipl . Great WIN, well played boys! 💛 congratulations & love all the way to Dubai 🇦🇪 #yellove #whistlepodu
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) October 4, 2020
Jai and Veeru all over again….. #CSK
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 4, 2020
Kings from Chennai have arrived in the UAE. #CSK roared. And how. #KXIPvCSK
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 4, 2020
That’s a much better performance from @ChennaiIPL. Hopefully they can get on a bit of a winning run now and then peak at the right time
— Albie Morkel (@albiemorkel) October 4, 2020
Champions 🦁 are back on track💪way to go @ShaneRWatson33 @faf1307 Great win boys @ChennaiIPL #whitslepodu @IPL pic.twitter.com/CzvMY6RqL2
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 4, 2020
Well this is a way to make a statement! @ChennaiIPL are back baby!! #IPL2020 #CSKvsKXIP
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) October 4, 2020
The #ipl2020 is a harsh battle ground to learn the trade, gotta feel for KL ,he is bearing the brunt of it and learning it the hard way #KXIPvCSK #KLRahul #Captaincy
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) October 4, 2020
Fantastic come back by #csk bowling was so much better on this flat deck. #Shardul #watson #faf
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/Sdoull/status/1312809313375789056?s=20
Game is on @ChennaiIPL , @ShaneRWatson33 & @faf1307 looking good brothers 💪 #WhistlePodu #CSK
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) October 4, 2020
