IPL SRL | KXIP vs CSK Evaluation Chart - Agarwal, Pooran stun CSK to seal six-wicket win for KXIP

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

06/20/2020

A remarkable display of batsmanship from the Kings XI Punjab duo of Nicholas Pooran and Mayank Agarwal saw the home side script a famous six-wicket win over favourites CSK. Earlier, the Punjab bowlers did a fine job to restrict CSK to just 160 after Shane Watson went berserk upfront.

Match Review

CSK, after losing the toss, were asked to bat by Punjab, but the Men in Yellow had the perfect answer to KXIP’s question as they unleashed the beastly version of Shane Watson on KL Rahul’s men. In a brutal onslaught, Watson smashed 55 off just 30 balls to rattle the Lions in their own den. However, as good as Watson was on the day, no other CSK batsman was able to match the Aussie’s standards and this proved problematic for Dhoni’s men. At 104/2 in the 12th over, CSK had complete control of the innings but a combination of inept batting and some world-class bowling resulted in CSK flabbergastingly getting bowled out for 160, scoring just 56 runs off their last 50 balls.

Punjab are generally not the shrewdest of sides when it comes to chasing down moderate targets and once again, today, their top-order misfired in the quest of a par score as both Gayle and Rahul departed in quick succession to leave the team reeling at 18/2. Maxwell and Agarwal then kept the boat afloat, but it didn’t take long for CSK spinners to take control and in his very first over, Jadeja sent Maxwell packing. At this point, it looked like an easy victory for CSK but an astonishing 76-run partnership between Agarwal and Pooran rocked CSK and put KXIP on top, against all odds. Pooran departed at a crucial stage, but an ice-cold finish from young Sarfaraz Khan meant KXIP got home with six wickets to spare. Agarwal, fittingly, remained unbeaten on 50.

You can check out the live scorecard and the match tracker here

Turning Point

The 76-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran turned out to be the single biggest deciding factor of the game. Maxwell’s untimely departure threatened a Punjab implosion, but remarkably, Pooran and Agarwal fought against all odds to inject life into the team and eventually guide the side home.

Highs and Lows

It is not very often that we encounter the game’s ‘high’ as early as the fifth over, but such was the kind of form Shane Watson was in, today. In what was Shami’s first over, Watson obliterated the pacer and took TWENTY FOUR RUNS, blasting three fours and two sixes. With the onslaught, the Big Man sent out a statement that he was not just there to survive, but to dominate.

Chris Gayle’s performance up top left a lot to be desired. The Big Man, of late, has often come under the gun for being too complacent and today, the bad habit crept into him once again. In an intent-less stay at the middle, the Jamaican’s 12-ball outing yielded just 7 runs and, as has been the case often in the last few years, he was found wanting against quality bowling. It was a performance that inspired no hope.

Rating Charts

Powerplay exploitation: Chennai 9/10 and Punjab 7.5/10

The juxtaposition in this phase was fascinating and it occurred right from the start - from a bowling perspective, you had spin from one end and pace from the other, while from a batting perspective, there was Watson and Du Plessis going in fifth and first gear respectively. However, luckily for CSK, it worked perfectly. Du Plessis’ slow burn turned out to be the perfect foil for Watson’s rampant showing as the duo, together, propelled the score to 58/0 at the end of the powerplay. At the end of the sixth over, remarkably, both had batted 18 balls each, with Watson scoring 42 and du Plessis scoring just 14. Talk about a balanced partnership.

Thus far in this SRL, the Gayle-Rahul stand has either been zero or hundred - no in-between - and the trend continued today, too. Unfortunately for the home side, the end of the spectrum the duo touched was the left extreme. Both Gayle and Rahul perished for single-digit scores in the span of 4 balls, and from thereon, KXIP were left to play catch-up. However, both Agarwal and Maxwell batted sensibly to steady the ship, eliminating the possibility of an early implosion. KXIP, eventually, finished their powerplay on 41/2, staying on par with the required rate.

Middle-overs manoeuvring: Chennai 7/10 and Punjab 7.5/10

Faf du Plessis fell on the very first ball post the powerplay and then for a vast majority of the phase, the CSK batsmen took a ‘single’ approach - literally. Between overs 7 and 9, Watson and Raina took ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE SINGLES and by doing so, they ensured that they kept the scoreboard ticking whilst not giving any rhythm to the KXIP bowlers. The pattern was finally broken by Watson in the 9th over after which he perished in the 10th, but some counter-attacking batting from Raina kept CSK on the front foot. Raina soon perished, but CSK found themselves sitting comfy at 127/4 at the end of the 15th over.

‘Caution’ was the order of the day for KXIP in the middle against the CSK spinners as Kings XI, in the first three overs of Jadeja and Tahir, scored just 15 runs, completely putting the brakes on. Maxwell then succumbed to Jadeja’s accuracy in the 10th over, but then, against the run of play, new-man Pooran and Agarwal strung together a fine little partnership to keep CSK anxious. Through the deadly combination of strike rotation and the occasional boundary, Pooran and Agarwal, unexpectedly, pierced through the CSK bowlers to lift KXIP to 114/3 at the end of the 15th over, just 47 shy off the target.

Death bowling:- Punjab 10/10 and Chennai 2/10

At 129/4, KXIP - who have a reputation of being loose at the death - found themselves on the back foot, heading into the last five overs, but the bowlers stuck together to pull off a picture-perfect display at the death. After danger men Dhoni and Jadhav were sent back to the hut in the first two overs of the phase, Mujeeb, Shami, and Gowtham put the chokehold on the CSK batsmen to strangle the Men in Yellow. A counter-attacking cameo from DJ Bravo then ensued, but it only lasted an over as CSK were eventually bundled out for 160. The KXIP bowlers remarkably picked 6 wickets while conceding just 31 runs in this phase.

The CSK bowlers started proceedings off in a not-so-ideal manner, conceding 11 runs in the 16th over, but bounced back in the next 10 balls to bring the equation down to 30 off 15 balls. Chahar then saw the back of Pooran in the 19th over, but a four-ball phase which saw CSK concede a staggering 16 runs - thanks to a horror display from Thakur - marked the end of the Men in Yellow. Young Sarfaraz Khan, who walked in to bat at No.6, finished the game off with a fine boundary to hand KXIP an unlikely six-wicket win.

Match Frenzy O Meter - Good

The match had a plethora of interesting passages of play and both innings oversaw some great hitting and fantastic bowling. That KXIP, the underdogs, won the game was almost the icing on the cake.