Chennai Super Kings (CSK) knocked Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) out of the ongoing IPL-13 in UAE by scoring a massive 9-wicket win over the latter. CSK finished 7th on the points tally and ended up with 12 points after completing all league matches.

CSK’s win dealt a huge blow to KXIP which has been knocked out of the tourney. Though KXIP was at the fifth spot on the points tally after the match, it would be out of reckoning when KKR Vs RR match is over late in the night as one of these teams would get two more points to pip KXIP.

KXIP's top-order flounders

Winning the toss on a hot Sunday afternoon, MSD asked KXIP to bat first. Captain KL Rahul and Mayank Aggarwal accumulated runs at a good pace before Mayank (26) fell in the sixth over at 48/1. Run-rate steadily decreased after the power-play and was around 8 when Rahul fell in the 9th over. KXIP kept losing regular wickets and was 113/6 at the beginning of the 18th over. A powerful rearguard action and lusty hitting by Deepak Hooda (30-ball 62 with three 4’s and four 6’s) took KXIP to a reasonable score of153 which was considered below-par at Abu Dhabi.

Lungi Ngidi picked up three wickets but was a bit expensive; Thakur, Tahir and Jadeja picked up a wicket each.

Faf, Ruturaj take control

Needing to score 154 at just 7.7 runs per over to win the match, CSK started off brilliantly with du Plessis and in-form Ruturaj adding 82 in just 9.5 overs. Faf fell for a well-made 34-ball 48 with four 4’s and two 6’s. Ruturaj continued his rich vein of form to remain not out in the company of Ambati Rayudu who made a run-a-ball 30 with two fours. CSK romped home with 7 balls and 9 wickets to spare, thus knocking KXIP out of the tournament as its bowlers looked listless and clueless against CSK’s in-form batters.

Ruturaj, who made a well-paced 49-ball 62* (six 4’s and a six), received his third ‘Man-of-the-Match’ award in as many matches. This was also the first time in CSK's IPL history that one of its batsmen had scored back-to-back fifties in three consecutive matches in winning causes.

CSK's journey

CSK, which put in impressive performance in its last three matches, exited the tourney narrowly as it would have been placed second had it won two more matches. CSK lost at least three matches from a winning position. Even if one or two of these results had gone in CSK’s favour, it would have been in the reckoning by now.

Dhoni's decision to invest in youngsters such as Ruturaj paid hugely in the latter stages. Responding to a query from Danny Morrison who asked if it was MSD’s last IPL match, Dhoni said ‘Definitely Not’, which became the trend in Twitter within a few minutes with the hash-tag #definitelynot.

MSD would do well to choose his team carefully in 2021 as IPL-14 commences in just six months’ time from now.

Match in brief:

KXIP: 153/6 (20 overs)

CSK: 154/1 (18.5 overs)

Man of the Match: Ruturaj Gaikwad