On this doubleheader Sunday, the match 12 between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings comes from Mohali. See how Chris Gayle started off his IPL innings with some massive sixes.
Build Up
CSK who will be confident after winning their first two matches will look to continue their winning form as they face KXIP in Mohali. After coming back to IPL after two years, CSK won the opening match by just 1 wicket whereas they chased off a massive total against KKR to get their second victory. KXIP who won their first match against DD but they ended up on the losing side as RCB beat them.
Chennai Won The Toss And Opted To Bowl
Chennai make one change to their side as Murali Vijay replaced the injured Raina. KXIP made a couple of changes and to the crowd’s delight, it was Chris Gayle who came into the side. Sran was the other change for the team from Punjab.
Gayle’s Show
KXIP got off to a steady start as both of their openers were at the crease. Rahul and Gayle go all guns blazing as Rahul gets the team off to an amazing start. Gayle who initially took his time but started scoring at a strike-rate of over 200. KXIP hit 75 runs in the powerplay. Out of which, Gayle hit 46 of those.
Chris Gayle turned it on and scored a 22 ball half-century in his first match of season 11. Harbhajan got the wicket of KL Rahul to break the 96 run stand. Rahul scored 37 off 22 balls, hitting 7 boundaries. Mayank Agarwal was in next who has been in amazing form in the domestic season. Agarwal joined the party and hit 2 maximums before departing for 30 off just 19 balls. Gayle who at the other end was constantly hitting balls out of the park. Gayle went back for 63 off 33 balls with a strike-rate of over 190. From that point onwards, it was just plain from KXIP as they ended on 197 at the loss of 7 wickets. The team would have been disappointed as they looked on course for a score past 200. The middle order let the team down again.
CSK’s Bowling
CSK who had depth and variety in their bowling line-up looked out of sorts as Gayle and Rahul took a liking to the bowlers. Shane Watson got the important wicket of Chris Gayle as he bowled to his weakness and got Gayle pulling straight to short fine. Except for Deepak Chahar who went for over 37 runs in his 3 overs, all the bowlers were amongst the wickets. The team would be satisfied with the way they finished in the bowling department as they started off very poorly.
Super Kings’ Batting
Chennai would want their batsmen to perform they way they did against KKR as they successfully chased a big total. With a massive target to chase, Chennai would have liked Watson and Vijay to give them a good start. But not to the liking of Chennai’s fans, they lose both their openers fairly early. Watson and Vijay went for 11 and 12 respectively. Ambati Rayudu who looked to build some momentum to get the team on track for this massive chase. Sam Billings got stuck in Ashwin’s web and left just 9 runs into his innings. Rayudu who got run out to the brilliance of Ashwin, played very well for his 49 off 35 balls. Dhoni who suffered a back injury hit a half-century in just 34 balls. Despite Dhoni’s valiant effort, CSK fell short by just 4 runs.
KXIP’s Bowling
Ashwin’s team set a big target for the bowlers to defend. But the team started off well getting 3 batsmen by barely giving away any runs. It was Ashwin’s direct hit that got the wicket of in-form Ambati Rayudu. MS Dhoni gave the bowlers some nervous moments but thanks to their batsmen, the home team won by 4 runs.
Man Of The Match
Playing his first match of the tournament, it was Chris Gayle’s 63 off just 33 balls that got Kings XI Punjab the victory.
Check out how RCB just fell short in this mammoth run chase.
