Watson, Faf strings Record Partnership of 181* as the Lions Roars back in style – Thumping 10 wicket win for the Super kings over Kings XI
Third Man” - A Review by Kannan
Match : Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings 11 Punjab
Venue : Dubai
Date : 4th October 2020
Result: CSK beat Punjab by 10 Wickets
At last, the smiles are back in the Super Kings dressing room and the millions of fans as they shut the critics with a thumping 10 wicket win over the Kings XI at Dubai, in the process registering record partnership for CSK as well as the 2nd best opening partnership while chasing and winning by 10 wickets. Shane Watson and Faf Du Plussis were the key architects of the resounding victory where they toyed with the Punjab bowling attack and finished it off in style with couple of biggies.
Conservative start by the Kings 11 Openers, Rusty CSK on the field
Kings 11 Openers got off to a sedate start, nudging the bowlers around and hitting the occasional boundaries – Chahar and Curran settled into a good rhythm and ensured “even stevens” in the power play. when the scoreboard read 61/0 in 8 overs and Punjab was about to accelerate, the spinners came on and bowled better than they have been through out this tournament. Chawla dismissed Mayank while Mandeep Joined KL and they both looked good without taking too many risks. The fielding was rusty and the coach Flemming was visibly upset with his animated reactions and gestures looking for more commitment from his fielders.
Jadeja, who has been off color with the ball, came to the party and dismissed Mandeep – At 94/2 in 12 overs, with the sublime KL Rahul still batting well and looking hungry, it was looking like Kings will not settle anything less than 200, which would be a tough chase for CSK , given their form of their batters. Kl and Pooran, who is famous for his cameos and big striking, started to shift gears in the 15th over when KL played some delightful extra covers drives of Curran while Pooran started to go bang by connecting 3 big sixes on leg side, spoiling the figures of Thakur.
Final 4 overs – Gun Fielding and Shardul Come back with the ball
It was worry in the CSK camp when KL, who can strikes at 300 in the death overs and Pooran were cutting lose – CSK’s fielders stepped up on the field, spring in their steps was pleasing to see. Thakur made a brilliant come back in the 17th over by mixing up the speeds, bowling the slower ones and wide Yorkers, castling Pooran and Kl in successive deliveries – the former to a brilliant catch by Jadeja at deep mid-wicket and the latter to a diving catch by MS Dhoni, happened to be his 100th catch as a wicket Keeper in IPL.
The double delight by Thakur completely spoiled Kings 11 plans and KL Rahul would be upset not to carry on, the last 4 over produced only 37 runs and Super kings finished the innings on a high by restricting Punjab to 178 on a batting beauty at Dubai.
Racing start in the Power Play 61/0 in 6 Overs, the Opening woes are history
When CSK opener marched towards the crease, lot of anxiety and doubts remained in the hearts of the fans whether they will fire or continue with the “ Test” Match display witnessed so far – All the doubts turned into hope by the 4th over when CSK were at 33/0, their best start across the last 3 matches. Watson repaid the faith shown by the skipper by middling it from the word go, driving positively through the straight boundaries with his customary front foot stride and powerful shots. Du Plussis played the role of the aggressor flicking, pulling and the lap shots behind the wicket taking the attacking to Shami & Cottrell, who were running out of ideas.
A comparison of the scores at the end of 6th over – Punjab : 44/0 , CSK : 60/0, Remarkable turnaround by the champion players ticking yet another box which did not work well for them until now. Couple of Changes made by Punjab in the bowling dept did not work either as Chris Jordan, the new incumbent brought to control the death overs, had a horrifying Birthday as Faf took him apart by hitting for four boundaries totaling to 19 runs in the very first over he bowled.
Du Plussis Watson Show – Record Partnership for CSK
Watson joined the party and matched Faf shot by shot and showed what a wounded Lion can do when it is back to its belligerent best – Pulling,sweeping and taking on the spinners , hitting 3 sixes in the process one of which was a humongous one crossing 100 metres. Watson reached his 50 in 31 balls ,while Faf did in 33 balls, continuing his prime form throughout this tournament. The Record partnership of 181* was a stamp of authority these two men had on the Punjab bowlers and led to a comfortable win with 2 overs to spare.
Super kings are back
The Super kings are back to winnings ways after 3 consecutive losses – This is what the Fans were waiting for and hope this is just a beginning and few more wins on the trop needed to go up in the points table. While this team looks settled, there is one or two spots up for the grabs and with someone like Imran Tahir or an young batsman (in place of Jadhav) added to the lineup, this CSK team will be a force to reckon with. However, it is time to party and cheer for Yellow .
“Watto” “Faf”bulous win for CSK, 2 Super King Giants knocks down the Kings 11 – ‘Whistle podu’ time for the CSK community & fans
Excellent narration. Lion roars
ReplyDeleteNice write up
ReplyDeleteGreat Kannan
ReplyDeleteThx guys, pls reply with your name as name not showing up
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