Chennai Super Kings registered a thumping 10-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in Dubai on Sunday night. In the process, they became the first team to win a game chasing at this venue. CSK have climbed upto the sixth position in the points table after their commanding victory over KXIP. CSK were ruthless in how they went about their business of tracking the target of 179 down. Both Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis, defied the age and the Dubai heat to script together with a memorable CSK win. Here are the 5 Talking points from Chennai’s win over Punjab in match 18 of IPL 2020.
CSK’s Leap Of Faith
Senior statesman Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis stood up on the belief and trust shown by the franchise on those two players over the years. While Faf looked in good touch so far in this IPL season, Watson was due. He found the best way to repay the faith shown by his coach and captain as he scored an unbeaten 83 and with Faf’s 87 to post CSK’s comeback in this IPL. The franchise yet again proved the game is open still for the senior players around and that form is temporary, but class is permanent. One believes CSK will be hard to stop, now that they have got a move on.
Also Read: IPL 2020 Match 18 CSK vs KXIP Match Report
CSK Finds the Chase Secret in Dubai
CSK became the first team to win a game chasing in Dubai in IPL 2020. This was the eighth game at this venue and in the previous seven, the team which batted first won the contest. They made a cautious start to their chase and cashed in on the opportunity with the opposition captain under pressure while rotating his bowlers. The MS Dhoni-led team has perhaps shown the other teams a template of how to go about the business of chasing at this venue.
Also Read: We Did Same Things Right and Believed In Process – MS Dhoni
KXIP Punjab’s Worst Powerplay Figures
Kings XI Punjab had the worst powerplay figures as a bowling unit against Chennai Super Kings. They leaked 60 runs from overs one to six and were not able to pick up any wicket in the meantime. Their death over specialist Chris Jordan, had a forgetful outing on his birthday as he gave away 42 runs in just three overs.
Shardul Thakur’s Death Over Heroics
Though CSK took the first wicket as late as the ninth over of their bowling innings, Shardul Thakur provided them the much-needed respite in the death overs. He dismissed KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran who were well set to stem the Kings XI run-flow in the final overs. He gave away just three runs in that over, picking the key wickets. KXIP scored 26 runs in their final three overs from being 152/2 in 17 overs finishing at 178/4 after 20 overs.
Bowling Still a Concern for CSK
Though it was a 10-wicket victory for CSK and a resounding one at that, bowling still remains a concern in hindsight. They ere able to pick only four wickets as CSK’s death over specialist Dwayne Bravo bowled a wicketless spell. They failed to take wickets in the powerplay as well with Deepak Chahar not getting enough swing. Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja were targeted by Nicholas Pooran (33) and Mandeep Singh (27). Pooran took a special liking to Jadeja hitting him for massive six over square leg boundary.
Also Read: CSK to Terminate IPL Contracts With Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh