IPL 2020, KXIP vs CSK as it happened: Watson, du Plessis help CSK cruise to a 10-wicket win

MS Dhoni: I think we did the small things right. That’s what was important to us. The kind of start we got in batting, that’s what we needed. Hopefully, we’ll be able to replicate this in the coming games.

He added: “It [consistency in selection] is something that we bank on and sometimes Fleming doesn’t get as much credit. The good thing is we have one plan. It’s not that we don’t have debates, we discuss behind closes doors and come out with one plan, that’s the relationship between us.

Faf du Plessis: “Yeah it’s going well. I think the big thing for me is that I’m there at the end. It’s been a big focus for me to try and convert better.”

He added: “Credit to Dhoni and Fleming, it’s obviously the CSK way, they stick with players a bit longer than other teams might. They stick with players that they feel will play in the final. Credit to the management. It’s not always as easy as it looks.”

KL Rahul: Look it’s hard being on the losing side for so many games, we’ve just got to keep trying harder. There’s no rocket science, we know where we’re going wrong. The execution part’s been bad.

After 17.4 overs, CSK 181/0 (Watson 83, du Plessis 87): What a splendid win for CSK! The Kings are back and they have won by 10 wickets! Watson and du Plessis were fantastic but this will hurt KXIP.

After 17 overs, CSK 168/0 (Watson 82, du Plessis 75): This is now the highest partnership for CSK in the IPL and by any team against KXIP. KXIP can’t wait to get off the field now. Chennai Super Kings need 11 runs in 18 balls.

After 16 overs, CSK 156/0 (Watson 81, du Plessis 64): Bishnoi tried something different. Ran between the umpire and the wickets, then bowled regular leg-spinners. It seemed to work for a few balls and then got hammered for four off the last ball.

After 15 overs, CSK 150/0 (Watson 76, du Plessis 63): Chennai Super Kings need 29 runs in 30 balls. Less than a run a ball. What a show by CSK! Watson and du Plessis continue to motor on.

After 14 overs, CSK 135/0 (Watson 69, du Plessis 56): Watson is hitting it straight and he is hitting it big. This is how one knows that the Australian is in form. Chennai Super Kings need 44 runs in 36 balls.

After 13 overs, CSK 123/0 (Watson 61, du Plessis 54): Good over from Harpreet. Just four runs off it but KXIP need wickets; they need someone to put his hand up.

After 12 overs, CSK 119/0 (Watson 60, du Plessis 51): Chennai Super Kings need 60 runs in 48 balls. This is superb from the veteran duo. Totally in control and KXIP have no idea of how to go about this. Huge learning curve for KL Rahul the captain.

After 11 overs, CSK 112/0 (Watson 55, du Plessis 50): Jordan into the attack again and Watson smashes him for two consecutive fours to start things off. In the process, the big Australian got to his fifty off 31 balls. A little later in the over, du Plessis got to his fifty off just 33 balls.

After 10 overs, CSK 101/0 (Watson 44, du Plessis 49): CSK, with all their experience, should cruise from this point on. 78 runs needed off 60 balls. Will Dhoni want his team to hammer home a win and help their NRR too?

After 9 overs, CSK 95/0 (Watson 43, du Plessis 45): What a start for CSK! They need 84 runs in 66 balls to win. Easy does it from this point on. This is the kind of chase, Dhoni has mastered over the year. They should get there in a canter.

After 8 overs, CSK 81/0 (Watson 32, du Plessis 43): Spin from both ends now. Harpreet into the attack. But three fours in the over showing that these CSK openers are set now and going to be hard to contain.

After 7 overs, CSK 66/0 (Watson 22, du Plessis 38): Bishnoi into the attack. He started off very well and then conceded a four. Still, just 6 runs off the over.

After 6 overs, CSK 60/0 (Watson 22, du Plessis 32): 1-4-2-4-4-4. 19 runs of the Chris Jordan over! And it wasn’t Watson. Suddenly, du Plessis decides to start playing his shots. Starts the over with a scoop and then three consecutive fours to end the over. CSK have finally arrived... it seems.

After 5 overs, CSK 41/0 (Watson 21, du Plessis 14): KXIP guilty of letting things drift a little here. A dangerous strategy at the best of times but it might allow Watson to get set and well all know how dangerous he can be.

After 4 overs, CSK 32/0 (Watson 20, du Plessis 7): Harpreet Brar into the attack and he does quite well. Just 7 runs off the over. Steady stuff.

After 3 overs, CSK 25/0 (Watson 15, du Plessis 5): Watson is hitting it well and four off the fifth ball was further evidence of that. If Watson is batting like this, it allows du Plessis to play the anchor role.

Meanwhile, in the Premier League...

After 2 overs, CSK 16/0 (Watson 10, du Plessis 1): Good over from Shami but 5 wides cost his team. He is getting some movement here.

After 1 over, CSK 9/0 (Watson 9, du Plessis 0): A good start will make things much simpler. But that hasn’t quite happened for CSK in IPL 2020. Will it happen today? Watson starts off with two fours.

Innings break: Pooran is going to keep wickets. CSK’s chase is about to begin. How do you see this going?

After 20 overs, KXIP 178/4 (Maxwell 11, Sarfaraz 14): Two fours and a wide to start the over but then Thakur got it together. KXIP have a competitive total but CSK won’t mind this either. We might be in for an interesting chase, the kind Dhoni likes.

After 19 overs, KXIP 166/4 (Maxwell 10, Sarfaraz 4): Last 5 overs, 52 runs for KXIP. One more big over could give them a huge boost.

After 17.2 overs, KXIP 152/4 (Maxwell 0): WICKET! Thakur strikes again. Two in two. Brilliant widish knuckle ball, Rahul gets the edge and Dhoni took a good catch.

Rahul c Dhoni b SN Thakur 63(52)

After 17.1 overs, KXIP 152/3 (Rahul 63): WICKET! Pooran hit that high. Really high. But he picked out Jadeja in the deep and the fielder did not make a mistake. Wicket for Thakur.

Pooran c Jadeja b SN Thakur 33(17)

After 17 overs, KXIP 152/2 (Rahul 63, Pooran 33): Pooran is now hitting them deep into the stands. Some really big hitting on display. 11 runs from the Bravo over.

After 16 overs, KXIP 141/2 (Rahul 63, Pooran 22): The Rahul-Pooran stand is already worth 47(24) and Pooran is hitting it really well but having wickets in hand means KXIP can really go for it now. No point having Maxwell just sitting in the dugout.

After 15 overs, KXIP 130/2 (Rahul 62, Pooran 12): Slow start. Steady start and then suddenly, Rahul explodes. A six over extra cover got him to his fifty (off 46 balls) and it was followed by two more fours. Folks, this could be a pretty wild ride now, strap yourselves in.

After 14 overs, KXIP 114/2 (Rahul 46, Pooran 12): A six and a four to end the Jadeja over. Pooran with some stunning shots showing that he isn’t just going to hang around.

After 13 overs, KXIP 101/2 (Rahul 44, Pooran 1): Steady, steady stuff. KXIP are desperately looking for momentum here even as CSK look to apply the squeeze.

After 12 overs, KXIP 94/2 (Rahul 38): WICKET! And that is what CSK needed. Mandeep hit that straight to Rayudu who almost spilled it. A wicket for Jadeja.

Mandeep c Rayudu b Jadeja 27(16)

After 11 overs, KXIP 88/1 (Rahul 35, Mandeep 24): Big over for KXIP – 17 runs off it. Mandeep hits Piyush for two sixes and this could be the start of something.

After 10 overs, KXIP 71/1 (Rahul 34, Mandeep 8): CSK really dragging this back. This is where KXIP will want their skipper Rahul to show some patience. He now need to make this stay at the wicket count.

After 8.1 overs, KXIP 61/1 (Rahul 32): The pressure told in the end. Agarwal finds Curran in the deep off the first ball of Chawla’s over. CSK doing what they do best, piling on the pressure and waiting for it to do the trick.

Agarwal c Sam Curran b Chawla 26(19)

After 8 overs, KXIP 61/0 (Rahul 32, Agarwal 26): Jadeja into the attack and he concedes just 6 runs. The problem with such an approach is the pressure it can put on the batsmen to come.

After 7 overs, KXIP 55/0 (Rahul 30, Agarwal 22): KXIP openers still aren’t going on an all-out attack. Perhaps one of them should have. Maybe they are just waiting for the spinners...

After 6 overs, KXIP 46/0 (Rahul 24, Agarwal 21): If the KXIP openers wanted to get their eye in, they have done that. But could they have done better?

After 5 overs, KXIP 38/0 (Rahul 22, Agarwal 15): Steady stuff from KXIP, they almost seem to be holding themselves back a little.

After 4 overs, KXIP 31/0 (Rahul 21, Agarwal 10): Two streaky fours in the over from Curran and KXIP are up and running. CSK want a wicket early, they want to break this stand before these two in-form batsmen get going.

After 3 overs, KXIP 19/0 (Rahul 15, Agarwal 4): Chahar continues and Rahul helps himself to another boundary in that over. Still largely watchful from the KXIP openers though.

After 2 overs, KXIP 12/0 (Rahul 8, Agarwal 4): Rahul hits the first four of the night as he walks down the pitch and caresses one through cover off Curran. Made a length ball into a half volley. CSK have the sweeper stationed well inside the boundary line.

Sam Curran from the other end...

After 1 over, KXIP 4/0 (Rahul 3, Agarwal 1): As we have come to expect, a good first over from Deepak Chahar. Decent amount of swing, watchfully played out by the KXIP openers.

7.30 pm: Right then, we are all set in Dubai. Deepak Chahar to KL Rahul..

7.28 pm: Mumbai Indians win in Sharjah and go top of the table.

7.26 pm: A misfiring top-order, apart from Faf du Plessis to an extent, combined with inadequate run-flow in the middle overs and the habit of leaving way too much for the end, proved costly for the men in yellow in the three consecutive defeats. They will need a massive performance from the experienced players tonight.

Playing XIs:

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Md Shami, Sheldon Cottrell

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, DJ Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Shardul Thakur

7.14 pm: Confirmation of the playing XI...

7.10 pm: Here’s how the teams have fared so far:

Team news: It seems CSK have made no changes, quite incredibly. KXIP have made three.

7.00 pm: KXIP have won the toss and have opted to bat first. The trend is starting to go the other way.

6.50 pm: In the first match of the day, SRH are facing a daunting task in the run-chase. Follow that live here.

6.45 pm: Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of the 2020 Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. Dubai is the venue for this one.

Both KXIP and CSK have lost three of their first four matches and are at the bottom of the points table in the early stages of the tournament. They will be keen to bounce back at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday and get another win in the bag.