IPL 2018, KXIP vs CSK: Three masterstrokes from the game

The 12th match of the IPL saw Dhoni’s CSK and Ashwin’s Punjab battle it out with each other. The first two matches of CSK was full of thrills as they beat both Mumbai and KKR from a losing position.

On the other hand, Punjab brutally thrashed Daredevils and almost defended a mediocre target against RCB at the Chinnaswamy.

CSK yet again won the toss and chose to bowl. Gayle’s whirlwind knock and useful contributions from Rahul and Nair took Punjab to 197.

Chasing 198 CSK got off to a good start but some world class spin bowling by Mujeeb Ur Rahman and R Ashwin ensured that the asking rate was always above 10. Dhoni almost took CSK home from an impossible position, but Mohit Sharma bowled a superb 20th over to ensure Punjab’s victory.

Here are three masterstrokes from this cracker of a contest.

#1 Picking Gayle over Miller

Chris Gayle is regarded by many as the pioneer of T20 batsmanship is at the twilight of his career. No one went for him at the auction and it was not that big a surprise as he was firmly out of touch and his running was a major weakness in this ever-evolving era of cricket.

Many doubted the decision of picking him over Miller but Gayle proved everyone wrong by picking apart the CSK bowlers. It was vintage gayle waiting for the ball to land in his arc and dismissing it with disdain. Instead of going after the good deliveries he patiently waited for the bad ball and punished it.

The highlight was the sixth over bowled by Deepak Chahar as he deposited the 2nd ball into the second-tier of the stands with an almighty swing.

The next delivery, he neatly bisected fine leg and square leg with a well-controlled pull shot. And then again punched the next delivery for four. Yet another storm from the boss came to an end after Watson got the better of him with a short ball.