Match 53 of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which could have been a road to the playoffs for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), ended in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) favour, as the latter won by nine wickets, thereby halting Punjab’s journey further. As CSK led the match almost all the time, we look at the talking points of the match that happened in Abu Dhabi.
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Poor performance of star batsmen KXIP star players,KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, who had managed to put up a show in almost all the league matches of the tournament, failed to perform on ‘the day’ for their team. They all fell cheaply, who could have been a key reason to KXIP's possible win.
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Dazzling Deepak HoodaThe batting all-rounder for KXIP managed to put his best foot forward in the most crucial match. Alone, he smashed 62 runs off just 30 balls, smashing four sixes and three balls. He saved the face of KXIP and drove them to a competitive target of 153 runs, at the end of their innings.
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CSK bowlersRavindra Jadeja tuned out to be the most economical bowler, who, in his three overs, conceded just 17 runs and scalped a wicket. The pacer Lungi Ngidi, who was otherwise a little expensive (economy of 9.8), managed to take the much-needed wickets. He, alone, took three of KXIP's wickets.
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CSK batsmen dayCSK openers, Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad scripted an 82-run stand between them, following which the formerdeparted. Du Plessis managed to put a decent show with the bat (48 runs off 34 balls) and Amabati Rayudu, who then walked onto the crease, too, did a good job, as he contributed 30 runs.
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Rising Ruturaj GaikwadCSK probably have found a perfect player for the openingthird-order batsmen in the form of Gaikwad. Today, he hit 62 runs off 49 balls and made his third consecutive 50. By doing so, he becomes the first CSK player to hit three consecutive 50+ scores.
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Murugan AshwinOff all the expensive KXIP bowlers, spinner Murugan went quite economical. In his spell of four overs, he leaked just 17 runs and maintained an economy of 4.2.
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