It was a crunch game, more so for KXIP as their playoff qualification rested on the result of this game, but also for CSK, who were desperately looking for some momentum after having lost a few of their games in the last 2 weeks.
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After MI had lost in the afternoon game, KXIP had to win this game by 53 runs in order to eclipse RR’s run-rate.
However, they got off to the worst possible start, as Gayle, Finch and Rahul succumbed to some classic swing bowling from Deepak Chahar.
And from then on it was all about rebuilding. By the mid way mark it felt like the KXIP bowlers would have to do a little too much in order to take KXIP over the line.
In the second innings the ball swung a lot for Rajpoot and Mohit Sharma as well, but despite the initial few hiccups, CSK managed to chase down the total with ease.
The chase though was not without surprises, as MS Dhoni decided to give his lower order some time in the middle by sending them during the middle overs. Both Bhajji and Chahar responded to it and did put up a decent enough show in the middle.
Raina and Dhoni then got together and got done with the formalities, with Dhoni swiveling and pulling the ball to the square leg boundary for a huge six to finish off the league stage of IPL 2018.
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