IPL 2019: KL Rahul takes Kings XI Punjab to a crushing six-wicket win over CSK

Kings XI Punjab ended the 2019 season with a crushing six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the 55th match of VIVO IPL 2019 played at the PCA Stadium, Mohali on Sunday.

Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and decided to field first. Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis got the team off a steady start adding 30 runs for the opening wicket. Watson struggle continued as he was dismissed for just 7. Du Plessis and Suresh Raina played with positive intent putting pressure on the Kings XI Punjab bowlers. At the end of six overs, CSK were 42 for 1.

After the power play overs, Raina and Faf du Plessis showed their class taking singles and hitting boundaries. The South African captain du Plessis reached his fifty off 37 balls while Suresh Raina followed with his fifty off 34 balls. Sam Curran got the breakthrough by dismissing Raina for 53. Raina and du Plessis added 120 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Faf du Plessis played a great innings scoring 96 off 55 balls and was dismissed by Sam Curran. Kings XI Punjab bowlers made a strong comeback by controlling the run flow in the death overs. MS Dhoni struggled as he scored 10 off 12 balls. Chennai Super Kings scored 170 for 5 at end of 20 overs.

Chasing the target of 171 runs to win, KL Rahul looked in fantastic touch putting pressure on the Chennai Super Kings bowlers right from the beginning. It was an amazing batting display by Rahul who reached his fifty off 19 balls. At the end of six overs, Kings XI Punjab raced to 68 for 0.

After the power play overs, Rahul and Gayle continued to pile pressure on CSK bowlers. Harbhajan Singh dismissed a well set Rahul and Gayle in two successive deliveries. Rahul and Gayle added 108 runs for the opening wicket in 10.3 overs. Mayank Agarwal was dismissed cheaply for 7.

Nicolas Pooran came to the crease and smashed a quick fire 36 off 22 balls. Mandeep Singh and Pooran added 46 runs for the 4th wicket. Kings XI Punjab ended the season with a convincing six-wicket win.

Brief scores: Kings XI Punjab 173 for 4 in 18 overs (KL Rahul 71, Pooran 36, Harbhajan Singh 3/57) beat Chennai Super Kings 170 for 5 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 96, Suresh Raina 53, Mohammed Shami 2/17, Sam Curran 3/35) by 6 wickets.

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