IPL 2018, CSK vs KXIP: 4 Reasons why Punjab lost against Chennai
It was the last encounter of the league stages of this year’s IPL as the Chennai Super Kings hosted the Kings XI Punjab at Pune. Punjab needed to win the contest by a big margin to qualify for the playoffs. M.S Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first.
Punjab got off to the worst possible start as they lost their top order with just 16 runs on the board. A sensible partnership between Manoj Tiwary and David Miller got things back on track. Some lusty blows by Karun Nair at the end got them to a score of 153 runs.
In reply, Chennai too had a horrible start as they lost 3 wickets with just 27 runs on the board. Punjab was blown away by Deepak Chahar who surprised everyone with his big hitting. A sensible knock from Mr. IPL Suresh Raina saw Chennai home with 5 balls to spare. Let us have a look at the 4 reasons why Punjab lost the contest.
#1 Big stars fail to fire
The Kings XI needed to win by a margin of a minimum of 53 runs to qualify for the playoffs. To do that, they needed a big score on the board. A lot was expected from their power heavy top order but they failed miserably.
The Universe Boss Chris Gayle departed for a duck in the 2nd over of the innings. Punjab’s talisman K.L Rahul shouldered arms to a Lungi Ngidi delivery but the ball came in sharply after pitching and Rahul was sent back to the hurt.
Aaron Finch too had an off day as he could only muster 4 runs before edging a Deepak Chahar delivery to Suresh Raina at slips. This poor start was a big factor in Punjab’s defeat.