IPL 2018, KXIP vs CSK: 5 reasons why CSK lost

The 12th match of IPL 2018 was a clash of the “Kings” as the Kings XI Punjab took on the Chennai Superkings at Mohali. It was for the first time that R. Ashwin and M.S. Dhoni squared off against each other.

Chennai won the toss and opted to field first. Punjab opted to play Chris Gayle in place of Marcus Stoinis and the move paid off. Gayle along with his opening partner Rahul smashed the Chennai attack to all parts of the ground.

However, Chennai’s bowlers made an excellent comeback thereafter and Punjab was restricted to a score of 197. In reply, CSK got off to a bad start as they lost 3 wickets for just 56 runs on the board.

Punjab’s bowlers bowled intelligently in the middle overs as well to strangle the chase. Dhoni did try to make a match of it at the end with some stellar hitting but it was a bridge too far for Chennai. Eventually, the two-time champions Chennai lost out to Punjab by 4 runs. Let us have a look at the 5 reasons why the Chennai Super Kings lost the contest.

---

#1 Chris Gayle turns back the clock

Chris Gayle had not been in the best of the forms coming into the IPL. Hence, he was benched for the first 2 games. The Kings XI decided to test their luck by picking him in place of Marcus Stoinis for today’s game and Gayle did not disappoint.

Showing everyone why he is known as the universe boss, Gayle played a blistering knock. Taking his time at the start, Gayle decided to launch in the 4th over as he picked up consecutive boundaries off Harbhajan.

Gayle had a special liking for Deepak Chahar as he smashed him for 20 runs off the 6th over. His 63 runs of 33 balls helped Punjab post a healthy total of 197.

#2 Poor bowling at the start

CSK’s bowlers began well by restricting both Gayle and Rahul in the first 3 overs. However, they would lose the plot soon after. Bhajji was wayward with his length as he erred on the fuller side and went for a massive 19 runs in the 4th over.

Shardul Thakur was too short with his length and at his pace, it sits up nicely for the batsmen. Punjab’s openers duly obliged as they thrashed him for 3 fours of his first over. The young Deepak Chahar was not spared as well. He took the full toll of Chris Gayle’s pounding as the Jamaican thrashed him for 2 fours and 2 huge sixes.

#3 Dhoni’s strange tactics

Ravindra Jadeja is not sure about his role in the team currently. Dhoni does not show the same old interest in his bowling abilities and he bats too much down the order to play as a specialist batsman.

Today he was not trusted with the ball even when the faster bowlers were struggling. The slower bowlers managed to bring the run rate down but even then Dhoni did not opt for Jadeja.

Similarly, it was baffling to see Watson not complete his quota of 4 overs, when he had bowled 2 tight overs and had even got the big wicket of Chris Gayle.

#4 The flurry of wickets at the top

Chasing a stiff target of 198 runs, CSK needed a strong start at the top. Unfortunately, they lost too many wickets. Shane Watson could only deposit Mohit Sharma’s slower ball into the hands of Barinder Sran.

Next to go was Murali Vijay, who was outfoxed by Andrew Tye. Seeing Vijay coming down the track, Tye rolled his fingers over the ball and Vijay spooned an easy catch to Sran at cover.

The hero of the previous match, Sam Billings, could not do much of note and was out lbw to Ashwin in the 7th over of the chase. These flurry of wickets derailed Chennai’s chase.

#5 Punjab’s spinners apply the stranglehold

When you are chasing a huge total of 198, you need to go after the bowlers throughout the 20 overs. Punjab’s spinners made sure that did not happen as they did not give CSK’s batsmen too many loose deliveries.

Ashwin was magnificent with his leggies and pulled the rabbit out of the hat by opting for DRS when the umpire had indicated runs off Sam Billings’s bat. His brave move ensured that Billings had to go back to the hut.

His spell of 32/1 from 4 overs ensured that Chennai’s chase never got going in the middle overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also frugal with the ball, conceding just 18 runs off 3 overs. The duo gave just 50 runs off their combined 7 overs.