Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the fans of the Yellow Army would be heaving a sigh of relief post the quintessential 10-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai on Sunday. The opening duo of Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis rendered a top-notch exhibition that pos
Speaking on the win and praising his batting partner Faf du Plessis, ‘Player of the Match’ Shane Watson heaped praise on the backing offered by CSK to their players. The 39-year-old added that there’s no panic situation with the 3-time IPL champions.
“Nice to bat like that tonight. Felt something slightly off earlier in the tournament, technical l thing. Bit more intent on the front leg, getting my weight through the ball. We compliment each other well. He (Faf du Plessis) is a great guy, love batting with him. With so much experience and success the franchise has had, they believe in the players. Never any panic situations with CSK. Just had to do a few things better,” said Watson in the post-match presentation.
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Earlier in the day, CSK was set a target of 179 runs; credit to the knocks from KXIP skipper KL Rahul (63, 52b, 7*4, 1*6) and wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran (33, 17b, 1*4, 3*6).
Among CSK bowlers, pacer Shardul Thakur was the highest wicket-taker with two scalps and conceding 39 runs while Deepak Chahar emerged as the economical among the lot with figures of 3-0-17-0. Sam Curran (0/31) and Dwayne Bravo (0/38) were a bit expensive in their overs. In the spin department, Ravindra Jadeja (1/30) came up with better numbers than the last few matches while Piyush Chawla conceded 22 runs in his two overs of play.
Batting wise, it was one of CSK’s best exhibitions to date as they added 181-runs for the opening stand, making it the second-highest opening partnership with a 10-wicket win in the history of IPL.
The duo of Watson and du Plessis played some exquisite shots throughout the game which would have surely boosted their morale for the forthcoming duel. Especially for Watson, this knock would have held special importance among the matches contested this season considering he hadn’t been in a good nick in the last four outings.
On the other hand, Faf du Plessis registered his 3rd fifty-plus total in IPL 2020 and is second in the list of leading run-getters with 282 runs in 5 outings, averaging 94.00, and striking at 150.00 while the much-coveted Orange Cap lies presently with KL Rahul who has clobbered 302 runs to his name at an average and strike rate of 75.5 and 141.78 respectively.
With this win under the belt, the Men in Yellow have jumped from the bottom of the table to the 6th spot with 4 points and an NRR of -0.342. Dhoni & Co will be taking on the Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on October 7 in Abu Dhabi.
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 and Faf du Plessis (87) power CSK to a 10-wicket victory over KXIP in Dubai.){kind=link}