Kings XI survives Dhoni’s breathtaking late onslaught

After blitzkriegs from Dwayne Bravo and Sam Billings took Chennai Super Kings past the finish line in its first two encounters, the team stared at a similar chase.

But this Sunday evening, in spite of M.S. Dhoni’s hope-inspiring, unbeaten 44-ball 79, Kings XI Punjab just about managed to halt the winning run of the former champion.

Chasing 198 for a third straight victory, CSK fell short by just four runs. In the face of the mounting asking rate, Dhoni produced a now-customary late CSK charge. But KXIP was not to be denied in front of a vociferous home crowd.

Needing 18 runs per over for victory, Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja produced some big hits to add 50 runs off 27 balls and bring the team within striking distance. With 35 to get off the 11 deliveries, Jadeja fell to Andre Tye.

Undeterred, Dhoni continued by scoring 6, 6, 2, 6 and brought down the target to 17 off the final over.

In the eventual analysis, with 11 runs needed off three deliveries, the two successive dot balls from Mohit Sharma to Dhoni proved decisive. Though Dhoni slammed the last ball for a straight six, it did not help.

After Kings XI got off to a flier thanks to Man-of-the-Match Chris Gayle’s 33-ball 66 and his opening stand of 96 in eight overs with the classy K.L. Rahul, CSK had reasons to feel better when it managed to restrict the home team to a sub-200 total. Shane Watson, M. Vijay and Sam Billings fell cheaply, and CSK’s rate of scoring was not a cause for concern for Kings XI.

Dhoni, who at the start of the match described CSK as “a team of overaged people” needed some medical attention for his sprained back when 97 runs were needed off eight overs.

Doing what he does best

Earlier, Gayle was back to doing what he does best — finding more sixes than singles! After sitting out for two games, Gayle came in as a replacement for Marcus Stoinis and soon made his presence felt.

It was between the fourth and the seventh overs that Gayle was on a rampage.

He moved from six to 56 by feasting on the offerings from Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Imran Tahir as the score jumped from 20 to 92!

Even as Gayle raced to his half-century off just 22 deliveries, Rahul stood for his immaculate stroke-making. Whether he punched the ball through covers or pulled it past the ropes between square-leg and mid-wicket, class was written all over his seven hits to the fence.

The departures of Rahul and Gayle in the space of four overs, followed by the dismissals of Mayank Agarwal and Aaron Finch off successive deliveries slowed down Kings XI.

Thanks to a late blitz by Karun Nair, the team managed to score close to 200. But that proved enough.

It was between the fourth and the seventh overs that Gayle was on a rampage