Picture Credit : BCCI
Known to be the best finisher in business, Chennai Super Kings Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni despite a blazing unbeaten 79 off 44 balls was unable to power his side to win. The CSK lost in the end by mere 4 runs finishing at 193/ 5 . Dhoni battling with bad back at one stage almost took the game away from the Kings.
Shane Watson ( 11) Murali Vijay ( 12 ) and Sam Billings ( 9) fell early to put pressure on CSK while chasing a stiff target of 198. CSK’s move to open with Murali Vijay with Watson instead of Ambati Rayudu and later on sending out off form Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Dwayne Bravo were tactical blunders. And cost the CSK the match in the end .
Ravichandran Ashwin , the Kings XI skipper, was all pumped up for the match against his former team and was brilliant win the field running out Rayudu with a sizzling direct throw.
Earlier , After put into bat by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the kings XI Punjab got off to a flier with Chris Gayle making his appearance at Mohali. The Gayle storm was back and he scored 66 off 33 balls . In form K L Rahul scored 37 . But after a middle order was a let down, the Kings reached 197/ 7 after promising 200 plus . KXIP in- fact lost their way after Chris Gayle dismissal and slid to 160/5. Imran Tahir removed Mayank Aggarwal (30) and Aaron Finch (0) off consecutive balls in the 15th over. Yuvraj too fell for 20 by Shardul Thakur.
