IPL 2018: Dhoni's career-best fails to see CSK through; KXIP win by 4 runs

Kings XI Punjab won their second match at Mohali which helps them to move up the Vivo IPL points table. Chennai Super Kings tried to chase the mammoth target but failed to do so.

Kings XI Punjab defeated Chennai Super Kings by 4 runs in yet another nail-biter match in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018). Chasing a mammoth total of 198, CSK kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but in the end captain Dhoni (79 runs off 44 balls) stood tall to make sure it did not become a one-sided match.  However, CSK fell short by 4 runs. Earlier, Chris Gayle made a quick fire 63 for KXIP and was declared man of the match. After winning their 3rd match, Kings XI Punjab moved to the second spot in the VIVO IPL points table. 

Chennai Super Kings did not have the best of the starts as they would have liked chasing 198. Shane Watson played some shots before getting out for 11.  

Earlier, put into bat first, Kings XI Punjab had a dream start as the comeback king Chris Gayle went hammer and tongs from ball one. Lokesh Rahul was not far behind, and he too hit some good shots. Chris Gayle scored 63 runs. Other batsmen did get starts but failed to convert them into big scores, Despite Tahir getting two wickets in two balls, KXIP was able to reach 197-7 in the 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings will need 198 to win when they come out to bat. 

Chennai Super Kings innings update: Over by over
 

Over 1: Shane Watson and Murali Vijay open for CSK. Barinder Sran leads the attack for KXIP. Starts off with a wide. Dot ball. Wide again. Saved a four. End of over. CSK 9-0.

Over 2: Mohit Sharma into the attack. Lucky four for Watson. Cut, gone for four.  Dot. Another Dot. Straight to the fielder at point. In the air, Watson is gone. Mohit Sharma strikes. Wason gone for 11. Ambati Raydu comes in. 

Over 3: Sran continues, Cheeky single. Straight drive, gone for four. Singles coming easily. Huge six by Murali Vijay. 

Over 4: Murali Vijay got dismissed trying to hit a six, but the ball went too high.  He made 12 from 10.

Over 5: Sam Billings joined Ambati Raydu. Just five from the over, and a few dot balls as well. Tye is keeping it very tight.

Over 6:  Mujeeb into the attack. Edge, just a single. Too wide from the leg stump, dispatched for four. Dot ball. Appeal. Not out. CSK 53-2.

Over 7: Five runs came from the over and a wicket. CSK: 58-3

Over 8:  Yuvraj Singh bowled the over. Leaked 10 runs. CSK: 68-3

Over 9: Thirteen runs came from this Ashwin over. CSK: 81-3

Over 10: Mujeebur bowls a tight over, concedes four runs only. CSK: 85-3

Over 11: Nine runs came from the over. CSK: 94-3

Over 12: Mujeeb continues. Dhoni is struggling. Raydu hits hard but just for two. CSK: 101-3

Over 13: Ashwin keeping it really tight, won't mind singles. Just 6 runs came from the over. 

Over 14: Sran is back. Short ball, Raydu dispatches it for maximum. Dt ball, Raydu did not read it well. Miscommunication, direct hit, Raydu is gone. Run out for 49. Jadeja comes in. 

Over 15: Ashwin to continue, Dhoni hits him for a six. Dot ball, precious at this time. CSK 122-4

Over 16: Sran to Dhoni, dot ball, Wide. Dhoni takes a single. Wide again. CSK searching for one huge over.  Another dot ball. Pressure mounting. Risky double. CSK 131-4. Need 67 from 24.

Over 16: Sran to Dhoni, dot ball, Wide. Dhoni takes a single. Wide again. CSK searching for one huge over.  Another dot ball. Pressure mounting. Risky double. CSK 131-4

Over 17: Andrew Tye is back, slower one, Dhoni misses. Powerful shot just for one. Jadeja pulls just for one. Runs not flowing thick and fast. Dhoni connects, four runs. Single taken. Jadeja hits a four. CSK 139-4. Need 55 from18.

Over 18: Mohit Sharma is back, Dhoni hits straight to the fielder, but he misses, four runs. Single taken. Just one for Jadeja. Massive six by Dhoni. 50 up for Dhoni.Jadeja hits over long-on for huge six. CSK 162-4

Over 19: Tyeto continue. Just one for Dhoni. In the air, taken. Jadeja dismissed for 19. Dwayne Bravo comes in. Boom! Dhoni hits another one. Over the head of a third man, four runs to Dhoni. Two runs. Six again! Who is writing the script of the match. CSK 181-5. Need 17 from6.

Over 20: Sharma to continue, One run to Bravo. Dot ball. Wide! Dhoni hits a four. Square cut, went like a bullet. Dot ball. No run, Dot ball. Six. KXIP win by 4 runs.

Chennai Super Kings innings analysis after 16 overs

Chasing 198, Shane Watson and Murali Vijay came to open the innings for Chennai Super Kings. Brainder Sran came to bowl the first over of and gave away 9 runs. Sran looked rusty as he gave away 5 runs as wide in his first over. Mohit Sharma came to bowl the 2nd over for KXIP and gave away 8 runs before taking good looking Shane Watson, who scored 11 runs off 9 balls. Ambati Rayadu came to bat after the dismissal of Watson and timing the ball beautifully. In the 3rd over, Murali Vijay and Ambati Rayadu collected 14 runs. Vijay pulled Sran’s last for brilliant six in the square leg region. At the end of 3rd over CSK was 31 for 1. Mohit Sharma came to bowl the 4th over and gave away 8 runs. Andrew Tye came to bowl the 5th over and took Vijay’s wicket as he tried to hit Tye out of the ground but got deceived of the slower ball. The second ball hit for a four as he missed his line and Rayadu took the full advantage of it. Tye gave 7 runs and took Murali Vijay's wicket. Mujeeb Ur Rahman came to bowl the last over of the powerplay and gave away only 7 runs. After the end of the powerplay, CSK was 53 for 2 with Sam Billings and Ambati Rayadu on the crease. 

Ashwin brought himself to bowl the 7th over of the innings. Billings and Rayadu looked desperate to accelerate, Sam Billings got out while trying to do so. Ashwin bowled the leggie and trapped Billings in front of wicket. Umpire didn’t give out but Ashwin was adamant and went for DRS and decision got over-turned. Dhoni came to bat after the fall of CSK’s 3rd wicket. Yuvraj came to bowl the 8th over of the innings and Dhoni was looking to score big runs from ball one. Yuvraj gave 10 runs in his first over. After the end ,of 8 overs CSK needed 130 runs in 12 over with a required run rate of 10.83. Ashwin came to bowl the 9th over and gave away 13 runs as he failed to turn his leg break bowl which goes for wide. Rayadu and Dhoni scored one four each in Ashwin’s 3rd over.  

Mujeeb ur Rahman came to bowl the 10th over and gave away only 4 runs. Andrew came to bowl the 11th over and gave away 9 runs. Dhoni and Rayudu were dealing singles with some a boundary every over. Mujeeb only gave away 7 runs in his 3rd over as required run rate was over 12 runs per over. Ashwin too gave only 6 runs as Rayudu looked desperate to score big runs. After the end of the 13th over CSK needed 97 runs off 42 balls with required run-rate of 13 runs per over.

Barinder Sran came to bowl the 14th over and Rayudu hit Sran for six of his 2nd ball. But got perished while trying to take a single, a brilliant throw from Ashwin. This was a big blow for Chennai Super Kings as Rayudu scored 49 runs off 35 balls with a strike rate of 140. Ravindra Jadeja came to bat after Rayudu’s wicket. Sran pulled back brilliantly as he gave only six runs. Ashwin came to bowl the 15th over and hit for a six by Dhoni over deep square leg as CSK collected 9 runs of Ashwin’s last over. Sran came to bowl the 16th over and never allowed Jadeja to hit any big shot as Dhoni was suffering from back spam. Sran gave 9 runs in his last over. Chennai Super Kings needed 67 runs in 24 balls with a required run rate of 16.75

Andrew Tye came to bowl the 17th over of the innings, Dhoni timed the first ball for only a single as he limps for the single. Jadeja looked rusty as he fails to time the ball. Dhoni and Jadeja hit a four each in the last three balls as CSK collected 12 runs of Tye 3rd over. Mohit Sharma came to bowl the 18th over and Dhoni hit the ball in the air and Mayank Dagar missed the catch and ball went for four. Dhoni took a single off the next ball. Jadeja still struggling to time the ball as he took a single off the 3rd ball. Dhoni comes to the party as he dispatched Sharma’s 4th ball for six over long-on. Dhoni took a single to complete his half-century. Dhoni scored his fifty in 34 balls with a strike rate of 147. Jadeja hit the last ball of the over for 6 as CSK collected 19 runs in Sharma’s 3rd over. 

Andrew Tye came to ball the penultimate over and took the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja who was hopelessly out of sync. Jadeja scored 19 runs in 13 balls. Dhoni looked in his old form as he hit 2 sixes and 1 four in last 4 balls of the Tye’s last over. Dhoni scored 19 runs in the 19th over.  Seventeen needed off the last over. Mohit Sharma to bowl the last over and gave away only 12 runs to seal the match for Kings XI Punjab. Dhoni played his best knock in recent times but failed to win the match for Chennai Super Kings. Kings XI Punjab won the match by 4 runs

Kings XI Punjab innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Chirs Gayle is back for KXIP and he will open the innings with Lokesh Rahul. Deepak Chahar will start the attack for CSK. Rahul to face starts off with a dot. Lofted over the cover region, Rahulicks the scoreboard with a four. Flicked off the pads, two runs. Confident start by Rahul. Swing and a miss, rare for Rahul. Tries to pull, takes the ball onto his groin. He's down. Classic cover drive for four. KXIP: 10-0

Over 2: Chris Gayle to face. Harbhajan Singh to bowl. Gayle sends his first ball to the fence. Dot ball. Steps out, not run. Another dot. Single taken. Rahul on strike. Steps out and sends it back to Bhajji. KXIP: 15-0

Over 3: Chahar to continue. Starts off with a wide. Slow yorker. No run. Dot yet again. Quick single to Gayle. Rahul pulls for four. End of over. KXIP: 20-0

Over 4: Gayle sends Harbhajan flying over the boundary. Six and a four. Single taken. NowRahul hits him for a cracking four. Dot ball. Four again. Costly over. KXIP: 39-0

Over 5: Shradul Thakur is into the attack, Gayle edges one and goes between Keeper and first slip that was too wide, four runs. Swing and a miss. Off the pads. One run. Rahul pulls the short one from Thakur for a four, he got into the position very quickly. Smashing cover drive, just one though. Now Gayle pulls one for four. end of over. KXIP 53-0

Over 6: Chahar comes to the attack, Rahul to face, one run. Gayle hits over long-on, mighty six. Gayle awkwardly pulls, and it goes for four. Makes some room, plays through the off side for runs. Bouncer, wide given. Half-volley, Gayle sends it for six. Dot to end. KXIP: 75-0

Over 7: Imran Tahir is into the attack, Rahul greets him with a four. Rahul cuts, fine fielding, saved two runs. Gayle hits a four, 50 up. Here is another six. End of over. KXIP: 92-0

Over 8: Harbhajan to continue. Rahul takes one. Gayle cuts for one. Dot ball, rare to see that. Anotehr single. Another single. Rahul lofts and Bravo takes it. Rahul out for 37. KXIP: 96-1

Over 9: Shane Watson is into the attack. Mayank Agarwal joins Gayle. One run to start off the over. Mayank lofts, just for two. Mayank pulls for one. 110 up for KXIP. Quick single for Gayle. One to end the over. KXIP 102-1

Over 10: Harbhajan to continue, Mayank lofts, safe. One run. One to Gayle. Mayank steps out, hits over Harbhajan's head for six. Mayank cuts for four, another costly over by Harbhajan. Sweep, just one, wrong placement. Dot to finish. KXIP 115-1

Over 11: Dwayne Bravo comes to the attack. One run to Mayank. Gayle plays a straight drive for one. Another single, Bravo trying hard to keep it tight. Another single. Very tight over, just five from it. KXIP 120-1

Over 12: Watson to continue, Huge six by Mayank over bowler's head. Single to Mayank.Gayle is out, gone for 63. Yuvraj Singh is the new man. One run. KXIP: 129-2

Over 13: Imran Tahir comes in. One run to Mayank. Two dot balls to Yuvraj. Yuvraj sends one flying over the fence for six. Cuts to the fielder at point. End of over. KXIP: 136-2. 

Over 14: Bravo to continue, One run to Mayank. Good short by Yuvraj through covers, just one. Lofted drive, just for one. Another single. Yuvraj sends one to the boundary. Lucky four for Yuvraj. KXIP: 149-2

Over 15: Imran Tahir to continue, Mayank is caught on the boundary rope. Mayank gone for 30 from 19. Aaron Finch is out, another golden duck. Reviewed. all three reds, he has to go. Golden duck for Aaron Finch. Karun Nair joins to face hat-trick ball. Saves it well. Two dot balls. Nair hits four, well flicked. KXIP 154-4

Over 16: Thakur comes to the attack. Yuvraj cuts, just for single. Yuvraj is caught behind, gone for 20. Thakur gets the important wicket. Ashwin is the new man in. Takes a single. Nair misses one. Safely played in the air, two runs for Nair. End of the over. KXIP 160-5

Over 17: Tahir continues, one run to Ashwin. Misfield, two runs. Single to Nair. Tahir keeping it tight. dot after dot. Single taken. KXIP: 165-5.

Over 18: Bravo to continue, Single by Ashwin. Pulled, that is six. Now a four, Nair trying to accelerate. Very good running, double taken comfortably.  Flicked for a single.Single to Ashwin. end of over. KXIP: 180-5

Over 19: Thakur to continue, quick double by Ashwin. Misfield, easy single in the end. Nair pulls, one bounce to the fielder. Ashwin hits a six, upping the ante. In the air, Dhoni takes the catch, Ashwin gone for 14. Nair hits that one hard. Three runs. Andrew Tye joins him.

Over 20: Bravo continues,  good shot by Nair, just for one. Tye steps out, swings and misses. Single to Tye. Hit high in the air, Nair is out. Nair out for 29. Barinder Sran joins Tye, Tye misses again. Double to finish the innings. KXIP 197-7

Kings XI Punjab innings analysis

Shane Watson came to bowl the 12th over of the innings and Mayank Agrawal greeted him with a six. But Watson pulled it back for the Chennai Super Kings as he took the Chris Gayle’s who scored 63 runs off 33 balls with a strike of 190. He hit 4 six and 7 fours. This was much-needed wicket for CSK. Yuvraj Singh came to bat after Gayle’s wicket. Watson gave 9 runs and took the prized wicket of Gayle in his 2nd over. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 13th over of the innings and bowled 3 superb delivery before getting hit for a six of the 4th ball. Tahir gave 7 runs in his 2nd over. At the end of 13th over KXIP scored 136 runs with a run rate of 10.46.
 

Dwayne Bravo came to bowl the 14th over. In his previous over, Bravo only gave 5 runs. In his first three balls, he gave away only 3 runs to bring the run rate down to 10.29 but gave away 10 runs in the last three balls. After the end of the 14th over, KXIP scored 149 for the loss of 2 wickets. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 15th over and took the wicket of good looking Mayank Agrawal, who scored 30runs off 19 balls. Aaron Finch came to bat after fall of 4th wicket and got out for the second time in IPL 2018 for a first ball duck. Karun Nair came to bat after Finch’s wicket and collected 5 runs off last 3 balls of the over. After the end of 15th over KXIP was 154 for 4. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 16th over and took the Yuvraj’s wicket, who was looking dangerous today. In the space of 3 over KXIP lost 3 wickets. CSK bowlers pulled it back after giving too many runs in first 13 overs. Thakur gave 6 runs in his 2nd over and took the wicket of Yuvraj Singh, who scored 20 runs in 13 balls.

In last 15 balls, CSK bowler gave only 15 runs and took 3 wickets. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 17th over and finishes his quota of over giving only 5 runs. Once heading for more than 200 KXIP lost their way in the last 10 overs. Bravo came to bowl the 18th over of the innings and gave away 11 runs in first 3 balls. KXIP scored 15 runs of Bravo’s 3rd over. After the end of 18th over KXIP was 180 for 5. They would look to go past 200 runs in the last 2 overs. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 19th over and 4 runs in first 3 balls. Karun Nair looked in a sublime touch as he scored 25 runs in 14 balls. Ashwin hit the 4th ball of the 19th over for a six over fine leg and now KXIP can cross 200-mark easily but Ashwin got out while trying to pull Thakur and got perished. Ashwin scored 14 runs off 11 balls. Andrew Tye came to bat after Ashwin’s wicket. Bravo came to bowl the last over of the innings and gave 2 runs in first 3 balls. Inform Karun Nair to face the 4th ball of the last over and got perished while trying to score big. Nair scored 29 runs off 17 balls. What a last over from Bravo as he gave only 5 runs and restricted KXIP to below 200-mark. CSK will come to chase 198 runs.

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and decided to bowl first against Kings XI Punjab, at Mohali. Chennai Will be playing without Suresh Raina. He is out for the next two IPL matches.  

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSk will look for a third win in the IPL, while KXIP would like to stop CSK's winning streak. Gayle was bought by Punjab in the third round of auction.

Here is the squad for both the teams:

Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur

Kings XI Punjab Playing XI: Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will hope to continue their winning streak as they lock horns with Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the day's second Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match in Mohali. A win against KXIP will propel CSK to the top of the Vivo IPL points table. Kings XI Punjab has seen a seesaw in IPL 2018 so far -- they defeated Delhi Daredevils in the first game but fell short against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru. They will need to address their weaknesses in the game against CSK, particularly their batting.

Kings XI Punjab have one win and one loss so far and despite the loss, one can expect that they will not make too many changes to the team that played against Royal Challengers Bangalore. For a win at home against Dhoni's in-form side, Punjab's batting department will need to fire. Other than K L Rahul, Punjab's star batsmen have yet to click. Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal have struggled to get runs in IPL 2018 so far.
 

 
Here are a few things to know about the Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab match today at IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, the two teams' performance so far, and which players should be looked forward to in today's match:
 

Blow to CSK as Raina out for the next two IPL 2018 matches: In a major blow to Chennai Super Kings, experienced batsman Suresh Raina has been ruled out of the franchise's next two Indian Premier League matches due to a calf injury. The 31-year-old sustained the injury during CSK's happy homecoming at MA Chidambaram Stadium, where the home franchise went on to clinch a five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the last-over thriller on Tuesday. Raina experienced pain and required medical attention from the team physio Tommy Simsek after completing a single against West Indies' Sunil Narine in the 10th over. He struggled to run between the wickets before being eventually dismissed for 14 runs.
 
Have to find a way to minimise injured Raina's loss, says CSK coach Fleming: Chennai Super Kings chief coach Stephen Fleming said the team has to find a way to minimise the loss of key injured player Suresh Raina. Raina is ruled out of next game against Kings XI Punjab after sustaining a calf muscle injury during the match against KKR. "Raina will certainly miss this game, the blessing is that we've got another four days in between and there might be a chance that he is fit again for the next game. We can't replace him. He is one of the best performer in the IPL and highest run scorer, so we can't replace him, but we have just got to find a way to minimise his loss. We have got good players in our set up. Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay who has played here (in Mohali) last year... So, these are guys with points to prove with international experience and when they get the chance they would do their best to do what Suresh Raina can do," said Fleming.
 
What Harbhajan Singh said about talent in Punjab and CSK's IPL prospects: There is no dearth of talent in Punjab but the state needs to create better infrastructure and provide more facilities to youngsters to hone their skills, senior cricketer Harbhajan Singh said. "We have fallen behind a lot. If you see, after me and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), no player played for India in cricket. I am not ready to accept that we are lacking in talent, talent is abundant. If we give good facilities and create good opportunities for the young talent, they will shine. We will not only create champions but also create a lot of healthy people and good citizens," Harbhajan Singh said.

Talking about CSK's IPL prospect Harbhajan said, "Hopefully, we can lift the trophy for Super Kings."
 
Here is how CSK and KXIP have performed against each other head-to-head in IPL matches so far:
 
Overall

Matches played: 18
Kings XI Punjab won: 8
Chennai Super Kings won: 10
 
Some trivia ahead of today's match between KXIP and CSK
 

• Chennai Super Kings have so far played a total of 134 matches in the IPL; Suresh Raina has been a part of their XI in each one of those matches. Sunday’s match will be the first time his name will not figure in the CSK playing XI.
• Murali Vijay has represented both the Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab; in 25 matches for KXIP in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he scored 704 runs, while in 64 matches for CSK (2009-2013) he scored 1600 runs.
• Aaron Finch will have fond memories of the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, it was at this venue he made his debut for Australia Under-19s.
• The player with the record for the most IPL wickets taken while playing under a captain is Ravichandran Ashwin; he took 99 wickets playing under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. In this match, they will be opposing captains.