Dubai: The opening pair of Shane Watson (83*) and Faf Du Plessis (87*) put on a stunning display with the willow to hand Chennai Super Kings a thumping 10-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Sunday.
The Aussie- South African duo made a mockery of the chase as they surpassed Kings XI’s 178/4 with two overs and two deliveries to spare with a record breaking stand of 181 runs.
After an early onslaught from Watson, Du Plessis too joined the party in the 6th over when luck favoured him and he crashed Chris Jordan for 18 off his last five balls.
After 8 overs, CSK were 81/0 and they went into cruise mode thereafter, running hard between wickets and putting the bad balls away with disdain. Before Kings XI could do something about it the men in yellow had already run away with the game.
Earlier in the day KL Rahul once again came good for his side with the bat as he top scored for Kings XI with a 52-ball 63. Nicholas Pooran (33), Mandeep Singh (27) and Mayank Agarwal (26) contributed to the team’s cause as they posted a challenging total on board.
All that Kings XI hard work was put to waste as the Watson-Faf duo combined to put on a marvellous batting display on a sultry evening at the Dubai International cricket stadium.
Brief Scores:
Toss: Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bat
Kings XI Punjab: 178/4
KL Rahul: 63, Nicholas Pooran: 33
Shardul Thakur: 4-0-39-2
Chennai Super Kings: 181/0
Faf Du Plessis: 87*, Shane Watson: 83*
