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CSK beat KXIP by 5 wickets | Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, Highlights And Cricket Score 56th T20 Match
Indian Premier League, 2018
Date: May 20, 2018 Start Time: 20:00 IST | 14:30 GMT | 20:00 LocalVenue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) face the herculean task of stopping a star-studded Chennai Super Kings to seal a play-off berth when the two sides face-off in their last Indian Premier League (IPL) league game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Apart from Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) also share 12 points each and with a sole match remaining for them, any of the four could make to the final four.
With the race for the play-offs becoming an interesting scenario, Punjab will have to register a win with a huge margin as their net run-rate reads a poor -0.490.
The Ravichandran Ashwin-led side kicked-off the 2018 season on a decent note, winning five of their first six games but faltered in the business end of the league.
Barring opener KL Rahul, who has 652 runs from 13 innings, Punjab have failed to click as a unit. Chris Gayle, the self-proclaimed 'Universe Boss', came out with some impressive knocks in the first half of the season but failed to maintain his form. Aaron Finch, Karun Nair, Marcus Stonis, Mayank Agarwal and Yuvraj Singh have failed to score so far.
In the bowling department, Andrew Tye has single-handedly led the pace attack with 24 wickets from 13 games and is currently the leading wicket taker in the league.
Teenaged Afghan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman (14 wickets) has also been impressive while pacer Ankit Rajpoot (eight wickets), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (six wickets) and medium-pacer Mohit Sharma (six wickets) need to raise the bar against Chennai.
On the other hand, having already qualified for the play-offs, Chennai will be eager to finish the league stage at the top spot. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side were handed a 34-run defeat by Delhi Daredevils in their last game on Friday.
For Chennai, Ambati Rayadu has been brilliant so far, delivering on most occasions. He has been amongst the runs nd has received good support from his partner Shane Watson. Playing 13 innings, Rayudu has 585 runs while the Australian all-rounder has gathered 438 runs. Skipper Dhoni (430 runs), has once again silenced his critics while Suresh Raina, who failed with the bat against Delhi, Dwayne Bravo, and Ravindra Jadeja will also need to come good with the bat on Sunday.
Deepak Chahar is back from injury which has also bolstered the yellow brigade's pace attack. Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi have also emerged with breakthroughs whenever the side needed. However, Bravo needs to learn from his last game, where he was hammered for 26 runs in the final over.
Come this Sunday, it could be another edge of the seat match for fans as both the sides will be hungry for a victory in the last league game of the season.
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Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings Highlights And Cricket Score 56th Match - T20 Summary
Okay! Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Rajasthan are our final four. Surprised? Definitely. Not seeing Mumbai over there does raise questions. But well done to the other teams. The first two have been consistent, which is why they get two bites of the same cherry. Hyderabad and Chennai face off in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 1330 GMT (1900 local). The winner moves to the final while the loser gets another chance - awaiting the winner of the Kolkata-Rajasthan clash in the Eliminator in Kolkata on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 1330 GMT (1900 local). Join us for the clashes! ADIOS! TAKE CARE!
LUNGI NGIDI has been named the MAN OF THE MATCH for his 4/10 with the ball. Says that he really enjoyed bowling tonight and on seeing Chahar's opening over, he was grinning and eager to bowl. Praises MS Dhoni for his cricketing brain and credits him for helping him develop as an individual.
Victorious Chennai skipper Dhoni has a reason for the experiment of sending pinch-hitters. He says that the ball was swinging and Punjab were concentrating on getting the wickets. At such stages, when a pinch-hitter is sent, it creates a chaos and that is exactly what happened. On Chennai's unbroken record of making it to the Playoffs every season, MS credits the team management and the support staff. Says that having the same core unit does help. Maybe after 2 years that core will dissipate but these 10 years have been great for the franchise he says. On Chennai's success, he says that every side has highs and lows, just that on that particular day, one needs to be at his best. But if things do not go your way, then you need to accept your fate as well.
Sad way for Punjab to exit. Their bowling made a match of it in the Powerplay but once the ball got older, they found it difficult to control the proceedings. Rajpoot was superb but the leading wicket-taker Andrew Tye struggled big time. Earlier in the evening, another poor batting performance from Punjab saw them scrape past 150. Karun Nair gave them some respect but otherwise, it was a shoddy effort. They had no answer to Lungi Ngidi as he was superb tonight. Time for the presentation...
One might question Dhoni's tactics of sending two pinch-hitters at the top, but given that they had one foot already in the Playoffs, their management will not mind. And Chahar's promotion did pay off.
A comfortable win for Chennai, even though the scorecard does not show it. They were rocked early in a chase of a modest 154 but they experimented as well. Harbhajan was dropped on 0 and that could have cost them had the catch been taken. But Bhajji and later Deepak Chahar's cameo along with Raina's finesse took Chennai home.
'ALL-ROUNDER' Deepak Chahar is in next for an interview. Says that he was lucky to have got an opportunity to get to bat tonight and he made full use of it. On the bowling, he says that the ball was swinging early on and he just ensured that he landed the ball in the right areas. Agrees that his own confidence and that of the team is sky high. On his improvement in his career, Deepak says that before this tournament, he was a slow bowler but in this league, he has upped his pace. Clarifies that SHANE WATSON WAS RESTED TONIGHT and is not injured. Further says that he too, would have been rested had Kolkata lost their final game to Hyderabad.
Punjab captain, Ravichandran Ashwin sighs on having yet another poor day at the office. Reckons that the batting was the area where the game was lost and credits Karun Nair for making a match out of it. Praises his bowling and wishes that Aaron Finch had taken the catch of Harbhajan Singh. Admits that the middle and lower order has not contributed at all and in the second half of the season, the batting simply did not perform at all, not giving enough support to Lokesh Rahul. Also is blunt enough to say that Punjab have been sloppy in the field and the game against Bangalore was the one which hurt them a lot (where they lost by 10 wickets on May 14). On the road ahead, Ashwin manages a smile and says that it is a new franchise. So wants to sit down with his unit and spend some time with them as he believes that a good team atmosphere will produce good results in future.
Mohit Sharma to MS Dhoni. SIX! Done and dusted on the first ball itself. A short ball, on middle, Dhoni swivels and pulls it over backward square leg! CHENNAI WIN BY 5 WICKETS WITH 5 BALLS TO SPARE!!!
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. What an anti-climax. As if Katappa does not fight so that Baahubali gets the credit and finishes off the demon. Aaah... too filmy. Full and outside off, watchfully defended. Raina wants Dhoni to finish this off. So does the crowd.
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. FOUR! Toying with the bowling now. Another short ball, Raina pulls it past short fine leg for a boundary to level the scores!
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. MISFIELD! FOUR! A length ball outside off, Raina backs away and slices it towards cover. The fielder comes running in but in his excitement, overruns the ball and it goes past him!
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. SIX! A well-earned half century for Mr. Raina. Took his time and is now coming into his own. Gets a length ball and swats it right back over the bowler. Seems mistimed as that came off the bottom half of the bat. But the timing was such that it cleared long on.
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. Works it through mid-wicket and gets a brace now.
Andrew Tye to Suresh Raina. SIX! VIOLENCE! A short ball on middle, Raina pulls this over mid-wicket for a biggie! 17 more needed from 11 balls now.
Mohit Sharma to MS Dhoni. FOUR! TONK! A short ball on middle, Dhoni pulls it over mid-wicket for a boundary.
Mohit Sharma to Suresh Raina. A short ball on middle, SR miscues this pull but the ball does not carry to long on.
Mohit Sharma to MS Dhoni. The batsman gets to the pitch of the ball and connects. The batsmen have run through for a single.
Mohit Sharma to Suresh Raina. Thick inside edge by the batsman, ball goes down to fine leg. They pick up a single.
Mohit Sharma to Suresh Raina. Top edge, but safe! A short ball on middle, Suresh swings hard but gets a top edge which does not carry to third man. A couple taken.
Mohit Sharma to Suresh Raina. WIDE. A bouncer on middle. Too high and it is signalled a wide.
Mohit Sharma to MS Dhoni. On middle and off, pushed down to long on for a single.