Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance as they demolished wooden spooners Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets to finish on top of the league table and qualify for the play-offs in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, in Mohali on Saturday. (Full Coverage| Fixtures|Points Table)
After restricting Kings XI Punjab to a none too impressive 130 for seven in 20 overs, CSK pair of Faf du Plessis (55, 41 balls) and Suresh Raina (41 no, 34 balls) added 92 runs for the third wicket to lay the foundation of a victory that was achieved in 16.5 overs. READ THE FULL MATCH REPORT HERE.
Ball by Ball Commentary
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Build Up
What went wrong: Openers and middle-order failure. Despite Brandan McCullum staying for more than five overs, the Chennai side could only score 16 runs in the first five overs, failing to read slow balls by Zaheer Khan and S Nadem.
What went right: With the rain curtailed match, KXIP sensed some respite against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Wridhiman Shaha, who was sent as an opener, grabbed the opportunity.
Fleming wary of ‘dangerous’ KXIP
Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming sees his side’s final IPL league match against bottom placed Kings XI Punjab as a “hard game”, saying they would be up against a team with “no fear attitude”.
‘Still have some bearing on where others finish’
They might be set to finish IPL-8 in the last spot but Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey feels his side has everything to play for as a win on Saturday against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings can have some bearing on where the other teams finish in the final four.
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