Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 10 wickets on a ‘Super Sunday’ for all CSK fans. Set a target of 179 for a win, CSK did so with utmost ease as its openers (Shane Watson and Faf du Plesses) remained unbeaten to close out the chase in 17.4 overs.

Title-favourites CSK, which had lost three of its four matches and was languishing at the bottom of the points tally, clashed with KXIP in the second game of the ‘double-header’ on Sunday in Dubai, UAE where IPL-13 is being held after getting shifted from India in view of the global pandemic COVID-19. With its over-powering win over KXIP, CSK moved by two spots to No.6 on the points tally.

Rahul's good show

KXIP won the toss and chose to bat, apparently because it wanted to make ‘best use’ of the strip which appeared to favour batting. As it turned out, it was a two-sided pitch which suited both the batters as well as the bowlers. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, the openers, put on yet another 50-run partnership before leggie Piyush Chawla provided the break-through in the 9th over by removing Mayank.

Breakthrough by Thakur

Manish Pandey (who fell to Jadeja) and Nicholas Pooran made valuable contributions along with top-scorer Rahul (63). Shardul Thakur’s twin strikes in the 18th over (when he removed Rahul and Pooran) ensured that CSK kept its target at a gettable level. CSK’s bowlers bowled to a plan and were appropriately backed by their fielders.

Cautious approach

KXIP needed early breakthroughs to force a win but Watson and du Plessis had other ideas. They started hitting big-shots from the very first over itself and never allowed seamers Cottrell and Shami to settle. The result of the match had become a foregone conclusion by the time CSK’s 100 was raised in the 10th over. Watson (83*) and du Plessis (87*) continued their power-hitting.

Both faced 53 balls each and hit 11 boundaries. While Watson hit three towering sixes, du Plessis hit a solitary six. Watson was named the player of the match for taking the attack to spinners and pacers.

How did it happen

Self confidence, focus and cautious approach were the reasons behind CSK’s all round show against Punjab. Despite a lot of criticism on the playing 11 the management reiterated its confidence on the team by fielding the same 11 that faced SRH on October 2.

MSD admitted that they were committing the same mistakes. Yesterday the team made emends on the field. The bowling and fielding were quite improved. The openers ensured that there is no early setback in terms of wicket.

Now that it has rediscovered the art of winning, CSK should keep the momentum going in the coming matches!

Match in brief:

KXKP: 178/4 (20 overs)

CSK: 181/0 (17.4 overs)

Man of the Match: Shane Watson

Picture Courtesy: IPLT20.COM