| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
Chandigarh: A clinical performance from the Chennai Super Kings saw them get the better of Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets in Mohali on Saturday.
After restricting the hosts to 130, CSK recovered from a poor start to knock off the runs required in the 17th over. The result meant CSK are now assured of finishing at the top of the Pepsi IPL 2015 standings, while KXIP take the wooden spoon, with just three wins in the season.
CSK lost Michael Hussey, who was playing his first game of the season, in the very first over when he feathered a Sandeep Sharma to the wicket-keeper. Brendon McCullum, playing his last game of the season, dragged a Beuran Hendicks delivery back onto his stumps in the second over.
Reduced to 10 for 2 in the second over, CSK were put back on tracks through a 92-run stand between Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina.
There was plenty of running between the wickets in du Plessis’ innings; promoted to three, the South African finished top-scorer in the match with 55 – made from 41 balls with the aid of five boundaries and a six. He was dismissed in the fourteenth over when he yorked himself attempting to come down the track to Rishi Dhawan, but couldn’t put bat to ball and had his stumps disturbed.
Suresh Raina held up his end, and in the company of skipper MS Dhoni took the team past the finish line. Raina remained unbeaten on 41 from 34 balls, while Dhoni hit two fours and two sixes in his 16-ball 25. CSK got past the finish line with seven wickets in hand and with 19 balls to spare.
For KXIP, Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, the 21-year old bowled his two overs for nine runs, while picking up the wicket of Hussey. Hendricks (1-25) and Dhawan (1-12) were the other wicket-takers.
Earlier KXIP, after opting to bat first posted a modest 130 for 7. The CSK skipper MS Dhoni assessed the surface properly and wasted no time in introducing spin into the attack. Pawan Negi was given the new ball and the left-arm spinner responded brilliantly picking up the wicket of opener Wriddhiman Saha.
Ashish Nehra and Ishwar Pandey then accounted for the wickets of George Bailey and Manan Vohra to reduce the hosts to 35 for 3 in the first six overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin beat Gurkeerat Singh in the air in his second over and had him stumped down the leg-side, while Ravindra Jadeja managed to get just enough turn to beat the outside edge of Glenn Maxwell’s bat and had his stumps rearranged. KXIP were 56-5 at the half-way stage, with David Miller and Axar Patel at the crease.
Miller’s innings was curtailed in the fourteenth over when Jadeja pulled off a spectacular catch running a few yards and diving full stretch to his left. It was then left to Axar Patel to take the team to a respectable total; the left-hander obliged, batting till the 19th over, and scoring 32 from 29 balls, aided with two fours and a six.
Rishi Dhawan, batting at number eight, contributed with a cameo – scoring 25 from 20 balls, studded with a four and two sixes, to help KXIP finish their twenty overs at 130-7.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab - 130/7 (Patel 32, Negi 2-25)
Chennai Super Kings - 134/3 (du Plessis 55, Raina 41*, Dhoni 25*)
Result - Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets
Points - Chennai Super Kings 2, Kings XI Punjab 0
MOM - Pawan Negi (Chennai Super Kings)
