Chennai Super Kings tamed Kings XI Punjab at home by claiming their fourth win of IPL 2019 by 22 runs to reclaim top spot. CSK, who went in with three changes, dominated the game from the start and consolidated their impressive record at home in the IPL. Having given a target of 161 runs, MS Dhoni's captaincy made sure they didn't let the game out of their grip at any point in the match.
Here are the three major takeaways from CSK's win over KXIP:
Faf's fifty and late flourish
Faf du Plessis hit a fifty on return to the starting line-up with a 38-ball 54. He first put on 56 runs with Shane Watson for the first wicket and then another 44 with Suresh Raina for the second wicket.
After the fall of du Plessis and Raina on consecutive deliveries, CSK's run-scoring dried out before skipper MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu fired to lead CSK to a competitive 160/3 in 20 overs.
They put on 60 runs in 6.2 overs with Dhoni finishing with an unbeaten 37 off 23 balls that included four boundaries and a maximum.
Spinners on top at Chepauk again
Spinners from both sides impressed at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. First, it was KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin who picked all the three wickets giving away just 23 runs in four overs in his homecoming. His teammate and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin also bowled an economical spell of 0/23 from four overs when the pacers went for over 8-an over.
CSK veteran Harbhajan Singh put KXIP on the backfoot with double strikes in the second over of the innings. He finished with figures of 2/17 from his four overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir bowled with an economy of 6 and 5 respectively.
Spinners have been doing fairly well on the slow Chepauk wicket with Harbhajan lighting up the opening match of the IPL with a Man of the match performance.
CSK's gamble pays off
After the loss of two wickets for seven runs, KXIP consolidated their innings with a 110 stand between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan. Having bowled his ace spinners out, MS Dhoni was left with pacers Deepak Chahar and debutant Scott Kuggeleijn to bowl the last three overs.
Kuggeleijn, who had gone for 27 off his first two overs, bowled a tight 18th over, giving away just seven runs and taking the all-important wicket of KL Rahul. In the next over, Deepak Chahar started with two full tosses but came back brilliantly to take David Miller's wicket and put the game out of KXIP's hands.
Needing 26 off the last over, KXIP could only manage 3 runs courtesy of some brilliant death bowling by Kuggeleijn, who returned with figures of 2/37.