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Match Report:

Scorecard

CSK thump Kings XI to return to top spot

Brendon McCullum's man-of-the-match performance returns Chennai to the top of the ladder, while Punjab remain rooted at the bottom

Chennai Super Kings have catapulted to the top of the table after out-batting, out-bowling and out-fielding the George Bailey-led Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.

Propelled by Brendon McCullum's quick-fire 66 and contributions from all their batsmen, the Super Kings put the Punjab bowling to sword and amassed 3-192 from their 20 overs. When it was Punjab's turn, the batsmen fell away to their second-lowest IPL total, going down by 97 runs.

Bailey's return to the team following his time out with a shoulder injury saw him last just three deliveries, while the man-of-the-match from their previous game, Shaun Marsh, scored 10.

Mitchell Johnson had a day he’d rather forget, dropping two catches, conceding 40 from his four overs and then out second ball with bat in hand.

Bailey replaced the off-colour Glenn Maxwell in the side while leg-spinner Karanveer Singh also returned to the team in place of Shivam Sharma. Chennai made no changes to their side, making them the only team this year to have gone in with the same XI in ever match.

Bailey opted to start with spin, employing Karanveer Singh to open the bowling. But the move backfired two overs later when Dwayne Smith took down the leg-spinner with a brace of fours and two sixes to kick start Chennai’s innings

Punjab's problems stemmed from the inability of their best bowler in the tournament, Sandeep Sharma, to either pick up early wickets or restrict the scoring. 

Sharma had conceded 5.55 runs an over this season before this match but went for 21 in his first two overs, as both openers took a liking to the medium pacer. 

Smith fell soon after for a 13-ball 26 but McCullum, aided by a life provided by Johnson's dropped catch at long-off, carried on his assault.  

McCullum reached his half-century from 32 balls just before the halfway stage of the innings with an ugly, but effective, heave off Johnson followed by a hook shot off a short-pitched delivery.

At the other end, Suresh Raina, with whom McCullum would share a 66-run stand, had two lives.

Before Raina had scored double-figures, the umpire failed to pick up a nick through to the keeper off Sandeep and just five runs later, Johnson helped out the left-handed batsman with his second drop of the night, a sitter put down at deep square-leg.

Raina didn't particularly punish the Kings XI for those misses on his own - gone for 29 from 25 - but he offered valuable support for both McCullum and Dhoni.

Dhoni had his eye in by the time Raina departed, combining with Ravindra Jadeja to blast 48 from the last 28 balls to see Chennai got the finish on 3-192 from their 20 overs.

Punjab's chase was derailed early and it never got a chance to recover. At one end, Murali Vijay kept unleashing some delightful strokes but Chennai kept piling on the pressure at the other with wickets at regular intervals. 

Virender Sehwag, facing just his second ball, tried to latch on to an Ishwar Pandey length ball but only managed to mistime it to the mid-off fielder. 

Marsh, fresh from a match-winning half-century last game, started off with a deft punch for a four through wide mid-on but failed to last too long after that, caught on his crease as he tried to whip a Ashish Nehra delivery through the on-side and was adjudged lbw. 

In the next over, Ravindra Jadeja got as much turn as was necessary to take Bailey's edge for Dhoni take a regulation catch and Punjab had been reduced to 3-40 in the seventh over.

Jadeja then had David Miller caught brilliantly at leg-slip by Raina and two balls later Vijay's fighting hand of 34 was ended by Ravi Ashwin as he tried to wallop him over deep mid-wicket. 

Axar Patel hit Jadeja over long-off for a six but in an attempt to do the same to Ashwin, he missed and was comfortably stumped. 

The loss roots Kings XI to the bottom of the IPL ladder, while CSK return to the top, edging out Rajasthan with a superior net run rate.