CSK vs KXIP Highlights and Match Recap, IPL 2019, Full Cricket Score: Rahul, Sarfaraz's fifty in vain as Super Kings secure 4th win

Great result for CSK. After losing their first game of the season, it was essential to ensure that they don’t form a habit of losing. They started off the wrong foot with an injury keeping Dwayne Bravo out, but they rang in the replacements who ended up being the stars of this win. Faf du Plessis with the bat initially, then Harbhajan Singh and Kuggeleijn with the ball made decisive contributions in the win. Punjab conceded too many runs in the death overs and then had a horror start with Gayle and Mayank departing in the same over. From there on, even though they were always in damage control mode and even though Rahul and Sarfaraz put on a useful partnership, they were never really ahead of CSK in that chase.

Most wins for CSK against an opponent in IPL:

15 v RCB
13 v DC, RR
12 v KXIP*
11 v KKR, MI

After 20 overs,Kings XI Punjab 138/5 ( Mandeep Singh 1 , Sam Curran 0)

That’s it!

CSK win by 22 runs!

Brilliant last few overs by CSK pacers. Kuggeleijn finishes things on a good note for CSK, giving just 3 away in the last over and taking the wicket of Sarfaraz. CSK go back on top of the points table with this win.

OUT! That’s the end of Sarfaraz and also the almost the end of match. He tries to clear long on but does not connect well. Faf du Plessis takes a safe catch at long-on. Difficult to win from here for Kings XI. They need 24 in 2 balls. Sarfaraz Khan c du Plessis b Kuggeleijn 67(59)

Deepak Chahar has managed to pull it back after a horrible start to the 19th over. He hasn’t bowled much at the death for CSK so conceding 11 runs in the over after conceding two free hits isn’t the worst return. More importantly, his bowling partner will be thanking him for dismissing David Miller off his final delivery.

After 19 overs,Kings XI Punjab 135/4 ( Sarfaraz Khan 65 , )

Well, what a bad start from Chahar, two over-the-waist deliveries, one hit for a boundary. An angry Dhoni, calmly gives his two cents to Chahar as if almost asking ‘What are you doing, brother?’. Guess what the next two balls, right in the hole, perfect yorkers. He started off on bad note but learnt quickly and ended up with a wicket. Kings XI have missed the chance to take it more closer to the target. They now need 26 runs in 6 balls.

OUT! Brilliant yorker, hits the timber, Miller has to go, he tried to heave it to the leg side but missed the ball completely. Kings XI lose their fourth. This target looks very far now. Miller b Chahar 6(5)

FOUR! Boy, oh, boy, what a poor ball from Chahar, looking to bowl the slower and the ball almost slipped out of his hand, above the waist and Sarfaraz manages to hit it to third man boundary. Add to that, a no-ball. FREE HIT.

After 18 overs,Kings XI Punjab 122/3 ( Sarfaraz Khan 56 , David Miller 4)

Scott Kuggeleijn completes the 18th over. He is using the off-cutters pretty well. Just 2 off the first two balls. Did not give any pace on the bat, had Jadeja at deep mid-wicket for the miscued shot. The plan worked. Brilliant captaincy from Dhoni. Has fielders placed just at the right place. Miller has joined Sarfaraz in the middle. And he has smashed the odd full length delivery from Kuggeleijn for four. Dot to end the over. This is getting closer and closer. Punjab need 39 runs in 12 balls.

FOUR! Too full from Kuggeleijn and Miller, the new man in, smashes it straight down the ground for four runs.

Harbhajan couldn’t pick a wicket in his second spell, but his bowling figures of 4 for 17 might well prove decisive in the eventual outcome of the game. He is reborn as a spinner this season, using all his experience and guile. The target is not out of sight for Punjab yet but they have certainly made it difficult for themselves. Keeping wickets intact will be important now as the new batsman may find it hard to get used to the pace of this pitch.

OUT! Plan in place and it has worked. Dhoni kept Jadeja at deep mid-wicket, his best fielder, Kuggeleijn bowls slower, back of the length, Rahul pulls, does not connect and Jadeja takes a great catch running in from the deep mid-wicket. Rahul c Jadeja b Kuggeleijn 55(47)

Rahul and Sarfaraz are managing this chase beautifully here. They are staying busy against spinner and looking to score freely against the pace bowlers. They have managed to stay in the hunt by keeping the required run rate below 10 so far. Harbhajan’s overs in the middle may be key for Chennai. If he picks another wicket now, Chennai can pile on the pressure.

After 17 overs,Kings XI Punjab 115/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 54 , Sarfaraz Khan 54)

Tahir ends his quota. Harbhajan and Jadeja finished too. So it will be all pace now from CSK. Three overs left. 46 to get. Dhoni gets his thinking cap on. This is the sort of situation he loves. It is now the exuberance of youth in Kings XI versus the mind of MS Dhoni.

After 16 overs,Kings XI Punjab 110/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 51 , Sarfaraz Khan 52)

Harbhajan finishes off well. And in this over, Rahul has reached the fifty-run mark. 100-run stand has been achieved. Bhajji completes his quota. 17 runs in 4 overs with 2 wickets. Brilliant stuff from the veteran.Rahul has done a good job so far, occupying one crease right from the start but he needs to finish things off now. Punjab need 51 runs in 24 balls.

After 15 overs,Kings XI Punjab 105/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 47 , Sarfaraz Khan 51)

Tahir is back on. Sarfaraz Khan has brought up his maiden fifty in IPL 2019. What a knock this is turning out to be. He has handled the pressure of coming in to bat early and at a crucial stage pretty well. The job is not done yet. And he would love to add stars to this innings by staying till the end and taking his side across the winning mark. Punjab need 56 runs in 30 balls.

After 14 overs,Kings XI Punjab 100/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 44 , Sarfaraz Khan 49)

Harbhajan comes back into attack and how well has the old man bowled here. He has been terrific in this season so far and has provided breakthroughs for his side when required. No wonder Dhoni has again turned to him for some magic. 100 has come up for Kings XI. Safaraz and Rahul reaching the 100-run stand. 5 came off this over. Time for time-out.

Rahul and Sarfaraz are managing this chase beautifully here. They are staying busy against spinner and looking to score freely against the pace bowlers. They have managed to stay in the hunt by keeping the required run rate below 10 so far. Harbhajan’s overs in the middle may be key for Chennai. If he picks another wicket now, Chennai can pile on the pressure.

Bails were really in the groove

Bails must be crazy! 🤥 #WhistlePodu #yellove #CSKvKXIP 🦁💛

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 6, 2019

After 13 overs,Kings XI Punjab 96/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 42 , Sarfaraz Khan 47)

Bizarre incidents an IPL go hand-in-hand. Rahul tapped the ball on leg side and ran, Dhoni was quick to the ball and flicked it back without having a look back at the stumps. It hit the stumps and Rahul was still out of the crease, trying to get back. But the bails did not come off. To everyone’s surprise. And to Dhoni’s dismay.

Sarfraz Khan’s 30-plus scores in IPL:

till 2018 – 3 (18 innings)
2019 – 3 (4 innings)

After 12 overs,Kings XI Punjab 91/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 39 , Sarfaraz Khan 45)

Kuggeleijn back into the attack. Safaraz shows his skills. First with a scoop over the keeper’s head to fetch four runs and then a textbook shot, a lofted drive over long-off for a maximum. Rahul and Sarfaraz taking it away from CSK pretty quickly.

SIX! Pace on to the bat of Safaraz, and he hits a lofted drive over long-off for a maximum. This was a classic shot.

FOUR! Creative stuff from Sarfaraz, fullish length and the batsman sits down on one knee and scoops it above the keeper as Dhoni watches it go over him.

Kedar Jadhav may not be the worst option on this pitch. He will force the batsmen to manufacture all the pace. Dhoni may look to bring him into the attack now during the middle overs and hope to slip in a couple of quiet overs.

After 11 overs,Kings XI Punjab 75/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 38 , Sarfaraz Khan 31)

Tight over from Jadeja. Last few overs have been good for CSK. Run-scoring rate has dropped for sure. Not to forget, there is no Bravo here. We may see Kedar bowling a few overs here to quickly fill in some overs. 4 off the Jadeja over.

After 10 overs,Kings XI Punjab 71/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 36 , Sarfaraz Khan 29)

Imran continues. He has looked the best of all the spinners in CSK’s ranks so far. Not giving any room whatsoever to the two batters. 4 off the over.

We are going to see a lot of spin today from Chennai who have four top-quality spinners in their rank. While Harbhajan got success by slowing it down, Jadeja and Tahir like to bowl at a flatter trajectory. Rahul and Sarfraz have managed to wait on the ball and use the pace to their advantage by picking gaps in the field behind square on the off side. Jadeja and Tahir need to be really accurate with their line if they are going to bowl at that pace.

After 9 overs,Kings XI Punjab 67/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 34 , Sarfaraz Khan 27)

Safaraz is playing really well and Rahul is looking in good touch. Fifty-run stand has come up between the two. Worries for Dhoni. He did not went up for the DRS in the last to last over. Not getting the calls right, wickets not coming easily now. 12 off the Jadeja over. We go into time-out.

FOUR! This time it is Rahul, who punches it away on back-foot, it goes at a rocket speed to deep cover for another boundary.

FOUR! Room given to Sarfaraz and he cut it beautifully for four to third man region. He is looking good today.

After 8 overs,Chennai Super Kings 60/1 ( Faf du Plessis 31 , Suresh Raina 1)

Imran Tahir, right-arm leg break, into the attack and a huge appeal for LBW. Googly from Tahir, thudded the pads. Umpire refused. Tahir had a chat with Dhoni and he did not look too excited to take the DRS. The replay showed that the ball had hit the pad first and would have hit the stumps. Rare occasion when Dhoni failed to take the right DRS call.

FOUR! Short ball and turning away, Sarfaraz rocks back and cuts it away for a boundary.

Ravindra Jadeja’s economy rate of 8.77 against KXIP in IPL – the second worst for him against any opposition.

After 7 overs,Kings XI Punjab 49/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 27 , Sarfaraz Khan 16)

Ravindra Jadeja into the attack now, replaces Chahar. Slip in place. Good partnership has emerged between the two batsmen in the middle. Kings XI needed this sort of effort after the horrendous start in their chase. Tension on Dhoni’s face. 3 comes in this over.

KL Rahul holds the key for Punjab in this chase now. He will look to hold one end up and pick the gaps in the field. Against spinners, he is adept at playing the ball late which allows him to manoeuvre the ball and collect two’s. Against the pace bowlers, he flows naturally, treating the balls on merit. Deepak Chahar has been guilty of pitching it short a bit too often this season and has been allowed to get away with it by too many batsmen. KL Rahul though took full toll on anything too full or too short from Chahar in that fifth over of the game to provide his team some much needed impetus in the power play.

After 6 overs,Kings XI Punjab 46/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 26 , Sarfaraz Khan 14)

Scott Kuggeleijn, right-arm fast medium, brought into the attack in the sixth over. He was welcomed by Sarfaraz with a six. Not the kind of start a bowler looks forward to. 11 off the over. 46 in the powerplay.

SIX! Bad ball, outside the off stump, short in length, Sarfaraz plays the ramp shot and hits it over the third man region for a six runs

After 5 overs,Kings XI Punjab 35/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 23 , Sarfaraz Khan 6)

Chahar continues and a positive start from Rahul as he fetches four runs straight down the ground. Dhoni has set up a strong off-side field, inside the circle. But Rahul goes big on the leg side and then an error on Chahar’s part, fetches the batsman four more runs on behind the wickets.

FOUR! On the hips of Rahul, he just have to tick it away for four to fine-leg. This is what he did. Four easy runs for Punjab.

SIX! Lovely shot, short in length, Rahul rocks back and pulls it away for a huge one over the deep mid-wicket.

FOUR! Full in length from Chahar and on the legs, KL Rahul times it to perfection, uses the full gace of the bat, gets four runs straight down the ground.

After 4 overs,Kings XI Punjab 19/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 8 , Sarfaraz Khan 5)

Harbhajan continues. So, Chennai have done their homework right. They are stopping runs and bonus has been the two wickets. The Kings of Punjab have started badly here and would need a fifty-run stand to come up between the two batsmen in the middle.

After 3 overs,Kings XI Punjab 11/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 2 , Sarfaraz Khan 3)

Chahar continues. Sarfaraz has joined Rahul in the middle. In all the games, Dhoni has looked to finish Chahar in his first spell only or at least give him a three-over spell. These wickets will help him stick to the plan. Chahar swings the ball and giving him a longer spell always keeps him interested. Just 4 off the third over. Chennai into the business straightaway.

Harbhajan can do no wrong this IPL. There is some assistance here for the spinners on this Chennai pitch, and he is bowling at the perfect pace to extract some quick turn from the surface. He has delivered two decisive blows in his first over itself by sending back danger man Chris Gayle, and one of the best players of spin in the opposition, Mayank Agrawal. Punjab desperately needed a good start against the new ball on this wicket; it will be tough to do the running when the ball gets older and softer.

Deepak Chahar in PP overs this IPL:

v RCB : 3-0-14-0
v DC : 3-0-15-1
v RR : 3-1-10-2
v MI : 3-0-21-1

After 2 overs,Kings XI Punjab 7/2 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 1 , )

Harbhajan Singh, right-arm off break, brought into the attack from the other end. So pace and spin from two ends upfront is Dhoni’s plan and it has worked. Gayle always looks tentative against spin at the start. Dhoni did not want him to settle down early. Bhajji bowled around the wicket and turned it away from Gayle, bringing his downfall. Mayank came in and straightaway wanted to prove a point against the off-spinner, fell too. Punjab’s innings in disarray here.

OUT! Punjab falling like nine pins here. Poor shot from new batsman Mayank Agarwal, straightaway looked to clear the long-on region, does not connect well and he has been caught by Faf du Plessis at long-on. Agarwal c du Plessis b Harbhajan 0(2)

Bowlers dismissing Gayle most times in IPL:

4 – Ravichandran Ashwin
4 – Sandeep Sharma
4 – HARBHAJAN SINGH*

OUT! Lovely off-spin bowling from Harbhajan, vintage stuff from the veteran as Harbhajan tossed the ball, outside the off-stump, asked Gayle to come and hit, the ball turned away, took a feather edge, Dhoni collected and he knew this was out. Gayle looked stumped for a while and then left. Gayle c Dhoni b Harbhajan 5(7)

After 1 over, Kings XI Punjab 7/0 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 1 , Chris Gayle 5)

Deepak Chahar begins proceedings for CSK. Straightaway little bit of shape for him. Rahul pushes the second ball past the umpire for just 1. Dhoni is looking busy, setting his field. He knows what Gayle can do when on song. Chahar looked to bring one in, it took the outside edge off Gayle and flew to wide of third man. 7 off the first over.

FOUR! Thick outside edge off Gayle’s willow. Chahar brought the ball in on fuller length, the ball flew away to wide third man region.

Chris Gayle at Chennai in IPL:

7, 89, 0, 68, 4

Back with the chase. Gayle and Rahul to begin the 161-run chase for Kings XI. Deepak Chahar, right arm medium pace, will bowl the first over.

Poor bowling from Curran and Shami at the death. They bowled too many balls right in the slot for Dhoni and Rayudu to get a clean swing at it. Ashwin would feel his team have lat it slip there at the end. 160 is a formidable total on this pitch. They chased beautifully against Mumbai last week with Mayank Agrawal anchoring providing the impetus with some beautiful hitting against the spinners. He will again be key tonight against these experienced Chennai spinners.

Today,

Spinner: 8-0-46-3 (ER – 5.75)

Pacers: 12-0-114-0 (ER – 9.50)

After 20 overs,Chennai Super Kings 160/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 37 , Ambati Rayudu 21)

Dhoni once again with the finishing touch for Chennai Super Kings. Shami bowls the final over, Rayudu tonks a big one, Dhoni with the boundary along with four singles to finish with exactly 160 on the board. Shami’s final over costs 14. Just about par score for Chennai with three spinners in their ranks, one would expect CSK to make life very difficult for KXIP at Chepauk.

FOUR! Cannot bowl short at pace with the fine leg up in the ring. Dhoni exactly knows the field and he pulls it over the fielder for another boundary.

SIX! Length ball on stumps, and Rayudu, clears his front leg and thwacks it over long on for a maximum. It also brings up the 50-run stand with that six .

After 19 overs,Chennai Super Kings 146/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 31 , Ambati Rayudu 13)

Dhoni pounces on one mistake from Curran and then transfers the pressure on the bowler leading him to falter. Typical stuff from the legend. Just the big over CSK needed and Dhoni is right at the center of their surge, 19 runs from Curran’s final over.

FOUR! Slower ball, full and outside off by Curran and it was getting predictable. Dhoni was waiting for it, opens his body and drives it up and over, couple of bounces and over the extra cover fence.

FOUR! Was the length ball again and Dhoni has targetted the deep mid wicket region once again. One bounce over the ropes. The bat did turn in Dhoni’s hands suggesting he didn’t quite nail it but was enough to collect four more runs

SIX! A bowler misses his length by an inch and he gets punished in the unforgiving game, but here Curran has missed it by a foot. Right in Dhoni’s arc on the leg stump and he is able to thump it over mid wicket boundary. Super Kings’ fan roar.

After 18 overs,Chennai Super Kings 127/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 14 , Ambati Rayudu 12)

Again lot of slower ball bouncers in the over, not giving too much pace to the batsmen and Dhoni and Rayudu haven’t been able to get it away. Dhoni did get hold of a length delivery to long off fence, but still it is a good over for the Kings XI, with just 11 runs coming from this. Tye finishes with 38 runs off his four overs with nothing to show in the wickets column.

With two new batsmen at the crease, Chennai are finding it really hard to get going against the old ball. There is no pace in the pitch and Tye is giving none on his own. Chennai may not get as many as they would have wanted after that solid start, but given the nature of this pitch, they may still feel they have got enough.

FOUR! Dhoni finally is able to break the shackles. Skips down the track and gets it in the slot to hammer it down the ground. Powerfully struck and beats the long off fielder

After 17 overs,Chennai Super Kings 116/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 6 , Ambati Rayudu 10)
 

Curran has been called back into the attack. Will bowl the 17th and is most likely to bowl the 19th. He delivers another fantastic over in the slog overs to follow up Tye’s good work, giving away only six runs. Keeps eyeing the wide and full deliveries. The third delivery barely reaches MSD, who has to delay his shot by a second or two for the ball to arrive, he is only able to tap it down for a couple to long off. Rayudu swings across the line but choose the wrong ball was too full and wide for him to swipe. Rayudu shuffles across before Curran loads up and the England all-rounder is able to slip another accurate yorker for Rayudu to get under it.

After 16 overs,Chennai Super Kings 110/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 2 , Ambati Rayudu 8)

Tye is back into the attack. MS Dhoni taps the ball on the onside and takes off for a single, he wanted as he hares down the pitch but Rayudu sends the captain back after he was halfway down. Shami shies at the non-striker’s end and Rayudu has to turn back and make his ground. A single on either side of the over as Tye bowls a terrific over, which included clever change ups. One of two have to go big and my guess is its going to be Rayudu.

Crazy stat!

Raina has never hit a boundary against Ashwin in #IPL

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 6, 2019

After 15 overs,Chennai Super Kings 108/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 1 , Ambati Rayudu 7)

MS Dhoni thrashes one down the ground but a diving stop from mid off keeps it down to one as MSD gets off the mark. Unfortunately for MS and Rayudu don’t have a lot of time to get their eye in. Rayudu attacks Shami to earn his first boundary. Seven runs from the over. Umpire has signalled for a time out.

Ambati Rayudu’s average of 32.79 batting at No.5 is the highest for him at any position in IPL. (Min. five innings)

Every bowler tries to use variations in T20 cricket. For Ashwin, variation should be listed as his bowling style. He has hardly bowled two similar bowls in his entire spell today. Those two wickets in his final over have pushed Chennai back slightly, but at this stage of the inning, and with wickets in hand, they have the liberty to carry on with their aggressive intent.

Bowlers with 1000-plus dots in IPL:

Harbhajan Singh
Lasith Malinga
Praveen Kumar
Amit Mishra
Piyush Chawla
Ravichandran Ashwin*

FOUR! Rayudu takes on Mohammed Shami. Dances down the pitch and strikes it over cover. Despite not catching it right from the sweet spot the ball trickles to the fence as Miller’s chase ends in vain.

Highest batting average for MS Dhoni against an opponent in IPL:

56.88 – KKR (19 innings)
56.43 – SRH (13 innings)
54.80 – KXIP* (19 innings)

After 14 overs,Chennai Super Kings 101/3 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 0 , Ambati Rayudu 1)

Exceptional over from R Ashwin there. Leading from the front, having picked all three wickets so far. Double strike in this over as Chennai Super Kings lose wickets just at the wrong time. Two set batsmen gone as Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni walk out to the center. CSK go past the 100-run mark and were just gearing to launch an onslaught are pegged back by Ashwin’s twin strike. Finishes with outstanding figures of 4-0-23-3.

OUT! Two in two for Ravi Ashwin. Raina goes for an ungainly swipe across the line and misses and the ball goes straight into the middle and the off stump. Ashwin breaks into a celebration.

Raina b Ashwin 17(20)

OUT! Faf du Plessis perishes as R Ashwin strikes again and it was the carrom ball again that produces the wicket. Clears his front leg and tries to go big down the ground, doesn’t get all of it. Miller with the catch at long on.

F du Plessis c Miller b Ashwin 54(38)

After 13 overs,Chennai Super Kings 98/1 ( Faf du Plessis 53 , Suresh Raina 16)

CSK just upping the run rate now. Faf completes his half-century, bringing it up with a six. Murugan Ashwin is able to hold his over together. He ends his spell with 23 runs off his four overs.

This is Faf du Plessis’ fifth fifty-plus score out of his last 10 T20 innings.

FIFTY! Stylish way to bring up your half-century. Faf sweeps it really well and the ball continues its way for a flat six to deep square leg. Excellent shot, excellent innings. Brings it up in 33 balls.

After 12 overs,Chennai Super Kings 87/1 ( Faf du Plessis 45 , Suresh Raina 14)
 

Faf has been playing superbly here. Reading the situation and pitch well, taking the calculated risk and making a statement to his team, that is what he can bring to the table. Raina needs to kick on now, having had more than a sighter. Nine runs from Ashwin’s third.

SIX! Faf skips down the wicket and goes straight over the bowler. Nicely timed there from Faf as the ball sails over the straight boundary. It was the carrom ball on the middle stump and Faf simply loft it without trying to over hit it.

A few quiet overs against spin but Chennai is still sitting pretty courtesy of the flying start they got. With wickets in hand, Chennai can really explode in the final five overs and set a target of around 180. Punjab wouldn’t want to chase anything over 150 with all those high-quality spinners in the Chennai camp.

After 11 overs,Chennai Super Kings 78/1 ( Faf du Plessis 38 , Suresh Raina 12)

Another tidy over from Murugan Ashwin. This is really good bowling, starts off with a googly to Raina, which is worked away for a single. Four more singles follow before Faf drives one inside out in the gap, keeping it along the carpet, for a couple.

After 10 overs,Chennai Super Kings 71/1 ( Faf du Plessis 34 , Suresh Raina 9)

Andrew Tye comes back into the attack. Much better second over for Tye after conceding 18 in his first, this one goes just for seven runs. Raina with a strange leave in the over as he didn’t offer a stroke a wide slower bouncer but when Tye tried bowling another slower off-cutter that was not really short but wide of the batsmen, Raina did collect four runs. After first 10 overs, the game has been of two halves, the first one belonged to the home side but the Ashwins have slowed things down since the Powerplay.

FOUR! Delicately done there by Raina. Tye bowled another off-cutter across Raina, it was pretty wide and Raina just using the pace of the ball directed into the gap between short third man and backward point.

After 9 overs,Chennai Super Kings 64/1 ( Faf du Plessis 33 , Suresh Raina 3)

Murugan Ashwin slips another very good over here. Raina did chipped one in the air but was short of long off fielder. Four singles from the over.

CSK’s run-rate in middle-overs (7-15) during this IPL is 6.6 while in death overs (16-20), it is 8.8.

After 8 overs,Chennai Super Kings 60/1 ( Faf du Plessis 31 , Suresh Raina 1)

R Ashwin produces the first wicket for KXIP. A timely break for them as well. Suresh Raina comes in at three. Ashwin with few tricks as well. A change in action as tried to bowl one like a medium pacer, with a high arm action and then follows it up with slinging low arm delivery to Raina, it was called wide but to be honest was a contenious decision from the umpire. Five runs and a wicket from the over.

The Pandya brothers gave Chennai all sorts of trouble in their last game. Now the Ashwins (not born brothers) have put them in a spot of bother. Murugan Ashwin had bowled beautifully in Punjab’s last game against Mumbai; he made an immediate impact on the proceedings by bowling a tight seventh over. Ravichandran Ashwin then capitalised on the pressure by snaring Shane Watson. Punjab is clawing their way back into the game.

Suresh Raina has amassed 744 runs in the IPL against the KXIP which is the second most by any player against them. He scored those runs across 21 innings at an average of 23.76.

Ravi Ashwin has now taken 39% of his career IPL wickets at Chepauk.

OUT! Watson departs. R Ashwin provides the first breakthrough with the carrom ball. Was pitched on the middle and Watson saw an opportunity to play the slog sweep, despite two men patrolling the legside boundary but Watson was perhaps playing for the turn, and slight extra bounce with the carrom ball and Watson gets the top half of the bat and Watson finds Sam Curran at deep mid wicket. Was the longer side of the ground as well. Really well-executed plan.

Watson c Sam Curran b Ashwin 26(24)

After 7 overs,Chennai Super Kings 55/0 ( Shane Watson 26 , Faf du Plessis 28)

Murugan Ashwin is brought into the attack, straightaway after the Powerplay. Tight start for M Ashwin. Mixing his length very nicely there along with his pace and gets couple to grip and turn sharply as well. After four dots to Du Plessis, he drags one short and wide that Faf cuts it through offside but there is sweeper cover in place to keep it down to one. Beats Watson with a quick leg break to cap off a neat first over.

After 6 overs,Chennai Super Kings 54/0 ( Shane Watson 26 , Faf du Plessis 27)

There is pause in play after Watson cracked one of his flat bat shots straight at the bowler, cannot put it down as a drop catch as it was struck with ferocious power. Curran is in some pain and after a brief stoppage, gets ready to bowl. Despite the four of the last ball, still a good over for Kings XI, only seven runs off the last over of the Powerplay. Also, Watto and Faf raise 50-run opening stand for Chennai.

FOUR! Again, Watson with his half sweep-half pull is able to get another boundary to fine leg. Curran angled into his hips and paid the price.

This is a great start for CSK, the best so far in this season. Both Watson and du Plessis have found their range now. This pitch looks sluggish, but these two have manufactured their own pace by frequently advancing down the track even against the seamers. Ashwin needs to go to his spinning options real soon.

After 5 overs,Chennai Super Kings 47/0 ( Shane Watson 21 , Faf du Plessis 25)

Horror start for Andrew Tye as both CSK openers milk couple of sixes in addition to the boundary of the first ball. Watson, slowly but surely finding his groove. Ashwin should be worried here. Last over did cost 16, this one 18.

Last five IPL innings at Chennai in IPL:

Faf du Plessis : 29, 17, 24, 29*, 32
Shane Watson : 13, 0, 42, 28, 101

SIX! Faf in action this time! This has gone a long way too.  It was right in the range for Faf to launch it over long on for another maximum

SIX! Watto has hit that nice and straight. Gets it right from the middle and that has gone all the way over long off fence. Pressure on Tye. Just hit the ball through the line. Clean as whistle.

FOUR! Not a great ball to start with by Andrew Tye. Angled into the pads and Watson bends and pulls it over in the field wide of the short fine leg fielder for a boundary

After 4 overs,Chennai Super Kings 29/0 ( Shane Watson 10 , Faf du Plessis 18)
 

Fresh from the hat-trick, Sam Curran, introduced into the attack. Watson has clearly had a scrappy time in the middle so far. Unable to right hit his straps. Pulled one off the last ball but didn’t get all of it. Three singles come from the over

After 3 overs,Chennai Super Kings 26/0 ( Shane Watson 8 , Faf du Plessis 17)

First signs of restlessness from Watson, as he looks to break the shackles, tries to create some extra room by moving towards the leg side, Shami follows him, targetting a short ball into his chest. Watson goes with the pull, despite being crammped for space, mishits it but luckily falls away from mid on fielder. Faf gets going with consecutive boundaries. Keeps out the yorker and then ends the over with a six. Big over for CSK, taking 16 runs off it

Good move from CSK to include du Plessis and drop Rayudu down the middle order. Faf is too good a player to sit in the dugout for long. What’s more, he plays well on these slow tracks. Opening the batting with Rayudu worked well for CSK last year, but Rayudu is a natural middle order batsman and as a senior player in the team now he deserves his preferred batting slot. Faf is making his presence felt early in the game as he picks 16 off Shami’s over with some intelligent hitting.

SIX! First maximum of the innings and Faf has surprised everyone with some improvisation. A shuffle across his stumps, taking it from outside the off stump, and out comes the scoop. The ball carries just over the fine leg fence.

FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries for Faf! Again advances slightly and carves a shortish delivery outside off through cover point for another boundary.

FOUR! Very good shot that from Faf! Shimmies down the pitch and lifts it straight, struck it nice and firm, to the right of mid off for a boundary

After 2 overs,Chennai Super Kings 10/0 ( Shane Watson 7 , Faf du Plessis 2)

R Ashwin will take the new ball from the other end. One slip in position. Ashwin begins with a gift off the first ball, a full toss on the pads but Watto was happy to flick it gently to deep mid wicket for a single. But Watson brings out his favourite sweep to stroke the first boundary of the innings.

FOUR! Ashwin straying slightly in line, on the middle turning into Watson, who bends and sweeps it deep square leg fence.

MSD’s achieved a milestone already!

This is the 150th IPL match for MS Dhoni leading CSK.

After 1 overs,Chennai Super Kings 4/0 ( Shane Watson 2 , Faf du Plessis 1)

Mohammed Shami starts with one slip in place. He doesn’t get his line right for the first delivery, straying down the leg side, but is able to find his rhythm for the rest of the over. Both Watson and Faf work around couple of singles in the opening over.

Change in CSK’s opening pair in this game, the loss against MI has ringed in three changes and one of which is the return of Faf du Plessis. He is out there with Shane Watson, the duo did open for Chennai last edition as well. Mohammed Shami to start the bowling for the Kings XI.

CSK have finally tasted defeat this season in their last game against Mumbai where they were thoroughly outplayed. They will be eager to get back to winning ways as they return home to play in front of their adoring fans. The injury to Bravo is a huge blow. They don’t have a like-for-like replacement for the West Indian all-rounder and will struggle to find the right team balance in his absence. Perhaps Santner will get another look in on a pitch that has assisted spinners this season. Punjab is a formidable opponent this season. They are hungry for success and are well led by Ashwin on the field and Mike Hesson in the backroom.

CSK’s win/loss record in the last 15 matches played at Chennai is 14-1.

CSK have a 11-8 record against KXIP in IPL.

Kings XI Punjab XI: KL Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami

Chennai Super Kings XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Scott Kuggeleijn, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir

Three changes for CSK Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma and Dwayne Bravo makes way for Scott Kuggeleijn, Faf du Plessis and Harbhajan Singh

Two changes for KXIP Chris Gayle and Andrew Tye back for in place of Hardus Viljoen and Mujeeb.

Toss: Chennai Super Kings win toss and MS Dhoni elects to bat.

Shami should be playing today for the Kings XI and would not want the number to go up

Bowler conceding most sixes in #IPL2019
9 - Hardik Pandya
8 - Mohd Shami
7 - Mohd Siraj/S Kaul/J Unadkat#IPL#CSKvKXIP

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 6, 2019

Pitch report: Hot conditions. Very, very warm in Chennai. Runs are in plenty on this pitch, says Brett Lee. He also said that spinners will have their task cut out on this one. This is a new-ball kind of a pitch.

Kohli scored a delightful 84 off 49 balls, taking his IPL runs tally to 5110. Kohli also became the second Indian to score 8000 runs in T20 cricket after Raina. Read more here.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) received an injury jolt as all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was ruled out of action for two weeks following a Grade 1 hamstring tear. Read the full report here.

Chris Lynn was all praise for Andre Russell after the latter’s 13-ball 48 not out, describing him as a ‘billion dollar man’ for KKR. Read the full story here .

Virat Kohli certainly wasn’t pleased after his bowlers failed to secure the game from a comfortable position, and were unable to come up with any solution to Andre Russell’s outrageous strokeplay. “…the last 4 four overs that we bowled was just unacceptable,” said the RCB skipper after the five-wicket loss, making his displeasure known to his bowlers. Read the rest of his comments here .

A lot of fans, as well as a couple of members of the Royal Challengers Bangalore attack, might still have mental images of Andre Russell smashing the ball into the roof of the Chinnaswamy during his brutal assault that resulted in a match-winning 48 not out, guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to their third victory. Reflecting on his whirlwind innings on Friday evening, Sandipan Banerjee writes on the Jamaican’s unique power-hitting technique, and why that makes him a special talent. Read the article here .

It’s the defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on another set of ‘Kings’ — the Kings XI Punjab — led by a man who was earlier part of the MS Dhoni-led ‘Yellow Army’. To keep yourself updated with what’s at stake in the 18th match of IPL 2019, look no further than our preview of the CSK-KXIP match here .

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Indian Premier League Match 18 between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. 

So it’s the battle between Chennai legend MS Dhoni and former Chennai boy Ravichandran Ashwin. CSK lost their previous match against Mumbai Indians so they would be eager to win this one at their home turf. The Punjab side has won two back-to-back matches so it’s important for Ashwin to maintain the momentum. 

We will bring you all the updates from the match so stay tuned!