MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, CSK, KXIP
CSK beat KXIP by 10 wickets [Photo-Twitter]

A brutal 181-run opening stand between Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis ensured that Chennai Super Kings [CSK] snapped their three-match losing streak with a ten-wicket drubbing of Kings XI Punjab [KXIP].

Chasing 179, CSK needed a good start from their opening duo of Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis, and the intent was clearly visible from Watson from the very first over.

Watson smashed Sheldon Cottrell for three boundaries in his first two overs before taking Harpreet Brar downtown for a four to race to 20 off 16 balls.

Faf du Plessis too joined the party as he smashed four boundaries off Chris Jordan’s first over to ensure that for the first time in the tournament, CSK made optimum use of the powerplay by scoring 60 runs.

CSK, KXIP, Stephen Fleming
Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis [Photo-Twitter]
Du Plessis continued the onslaught as he stroked Harpreet for three fours in the 9th over to race to a 25-ball 43 before Watson laid into Ravi Bishnoi to take him for a four and monstrous (even that is an understatement) six as the duo stamped their authority on the contest, finishing the 1st 10 overs at 0-101.

Birthday boy Chris Jordan was once again greeted with back-to-back boundaries by a Vintage Watson as he completed his 20th IPL fifty.

The carnage continued throughout the innings as the duo brought up the 150-run-stand with disdain to eventually break CSK’s record of highest opening stand, surpassing the 159-run partnership between Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay in the 2011 IPL final against RCB.

And, to further stamp their authority, Du Plessis finished off the proceedings with a couple of audacious strokes

KL scores his slowest IPL fifty as KXIP scored 4-178 vs CSK

Batting first, the opening duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal once again continued with their brilliant run-of-form, taking the attack to CSK’s new-ball bowlers, especially Sam Curran.

The duo brought up their 50-run-stand in 7th over and in the process they also completed 350 partnership runs this season. The partnership was eventually broken by Piyush Chawla on the very first delivery of his spell after Mayank mistimed a pull-shot straight to Sam Curran at deep mid-wicket. Mandeep Singh impressed in his first IPL 2020 outing during his enterprising 16-ball 27 as he took the attack to Piyush Chawla, smashing him for two sixes in the 11th over.

Ravindra Jadeja, however, brought an end to his innings in the next over thanks to a fine low catch by Ambati Rayudu. Jadeja bowled really well today but he couldn’t complete his spell on a good note as Nicholas Pooran laid on him in his last two deliveries, smashing him for a four and six.

CSK, KXIP, MS Dhoni
KL Rahul scored his slowest IPL 50 [Photo-Twitter]
KL Rahul completed his slowest 50 of his IPL with a brilliant inside-out six off Deepak Chahar, and he celebrated that with back-to-back boundaries- one through extra-cover and the other through third-man- as he finally got a gear to his batting.

Nicholas Pooran, for the first time this IPL, looked in the mood today as he stroked some monstrous sixes during his 17-ball 33 before a stunning catch by Ravindra Jadeja at deep midwicket brought an end to his innings. KXIP lost two in two as KL Rahul (63 off 52 balls) failed to slice the ball to third-man and MS Dhoni completed a brilliant catch to add another feather to his cap as he notched up his 100th catch as keeper in IPL cricket- only the second to do so after Dinesh Karthik (103).

Thakur nearly got the hattrick but the 1st slip was too deep to take the outside edge.

Sarfaraz Khan scored two boundaries during his 9-ball 14 but the lack of intent by KL Rahul throughout his knock and the wicker of a dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran meant that KXIP could not make use of the platform, eventually finishing at 4-178 in 20 overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to CSK’s 10-wicket-win over KXIP: