Oh, how the mighty fall! Invincible in the group stages, the Kings XI Punjab succumbed to an embarrassing defeat against the Chennai Super Kings in Hyderabad. The Super Kings not only registered a thumping 65-run win but also booked the final date with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
No one would have thought in their wildest dreams that a team featuring the likes of Virender Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and George Bailey will falter like this in the tie, as they lost their top-six batsmen for just 36 runs in fewer than eight overs.
The scoreboard pressure or some fine captaincy from MS Dhoni? Whatever it was but the Punjab-based franchisee crumbled like a cookie and bundled for 117 in 18.2 overs. Thanks to a fighting knock from Akshar Patel at the end, they managed to cross the 100 runs mark.
CSK ripped through the Kings XI top-order, courtesy of fine opening spells from Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma. They wreaked havoc with the new ball and send Sehwag (0), Saha (6), Maxwell (0) and Manan Vohra (16) to the pavilion.
“I think Ashish bhai bowled really well,” Mohit said. “Wicket is on the slower side, our plan was to bowl a bit short because it wasn’t coming onto the bat. We know how good he [McCullum] is on the field, he’s like Spiderman.”
The Kings XI still had a chance to chase a mammoth 183 runs target set by the Super Kings, through Miller (22) and skipper Bailey (6). They, just like other Punjab batsmen, couldn’t revive their team’s fortunes and were dismissed cheaply.
After their dismissals, there was only formalities left as the Kings XI were in total shambles and wasn’t able to read the Chennai bowlers. Nehra, Mohit, Suresh Raina and Pawan Negi finished with two wickets each, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took one wicket apiece.
“It didn’t quite come on, but we saw plenty of batsmen who managed to adjust and there were definitely runs to be hard,” Bailey said. “We gave Bravo three hits, and quality batter like that, you’ve got to take those chances. But credit to CSK.”
Earlier, the Super Kings put a good batting display and post enough runs on the board to bring Punjab under pressure. They lost wickets in the middle but Faf du Plessis and Jadeja helped them cross the 180 runs mark.
“Overall I think it was a complete game for us,” Dhoni said. “I think Faf’s innings was very crucial along with Bravo. Faf was rotating very well, he eased the pressure off Bravo. Close to 160-plus would have been a good score, and if somebody had said at the start of the game we would have got 180 I would have taken it.”
“There was a bit of uneven bounce, and if you think you can play your big shot, that ball will keep low. It was a bit difficult, but they had the firepower to score the number of runs we did,” he added. “Ashish and Mohit started off really well for us.”
