Chennai best Punjab, seal top-two finish

George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell failed to make an impression with the bat as Kings XI Punjab ended their sorry campaign with another convincing defeat at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.

It was all good news for the Super Kings, will end the league stage of the Indian Premier League at the top of the points table after they romped home to a crushing win over hosts Punjab on Saturday.

Punjab’s batting remained their bane as they were restricted by the Chennai spinners to a paltry 7-130 from their 20 overs. With Chennai having lost just one previous game in the IPL chasing a score of 130 or less, history wasn’t going to be rewritten despite the early loss of two wickets.

Michael Hussey’s return to competitive cricket lasted all of four balls before he fell but Chennai recovered from their poor start to post an easy win thanks to Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis.

On a spin-friendly Mohali pitch, the Kings XI Punjab lost their way early.

Bailey’s decision to bat first was an understandable one but to lose three wickets within the Powerplay and five by the halfway mark partly stemmed from Punjab’s inability to read the pitch.

Punjab’s struggles against spin also added to their dire situation and Chennai skipper MS Dhoni choked them with 12 overs from his tweakers.

Left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who took the new ball, finished with 2-25 from his four and clinched the man-of-the-match award for his effort. Ravichandran Ashwin (1-14) was at his miserly best in the middle overs while Ravindra Jadeja’s three overs cost him 18 and got him the vital wicket of Glenn Maxwell.

Maxwell came into bat in the fifth over after his captain Bailey seemed to have given away a positive start, and the Victorian controlled his natural instincts for a long time, battling 14 balls for his six.

Soon after he departed, David Miller’s blazing pull went straight to Jadeja at mid-wicket and Punjab were reduced to 6-78 in the 14th over.

Axar Patel’s 32, following on from his man-of-the-match showing last game, and an unbeaten 25 off the bat of Rishi Dhawan helped Punjab post a relevant score but it was never going to test the disciplined Super Kings approach.

Hussey edged Sandeep Sharma to the keeper while Brendon McCullum inside-edged Beuran Hendricks on to his stumps to leave the Super Kings in early trouble at 2-10.

However, du Plessis’ maiden fifty of the season and his 92-run stand for the third wicket with Raina ensured there wouldn’t be too many hiccups.

Dhawan eventually got the better of du Plessis but by then the Super Kings were only 29 runs away with six overs remaining.

Dhoni finished the game off with a couple of sixes off Anureet Singh to seal their top spot in the points table.

Punjab ended the competition on six points, their lowest across eight seasons of the IPL.