Kings XI Punjab have crashed out of the IPL 2018 after a 5-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
Punjab despite being brilliant in their bowling, were robbed by a patient CSK who soaked in the pressure and launched in the penultimate overs to win the game by 5 wickets and 5 balls remaining.
Punjab spearheaded by Mohit Sharma and Ankit Rajpoot rained hell on the CSK batting line who were chasing a target of 154. The duo in the powerplay took 3 wickets giving away only 33 runs. The CSK dugout played it smart and sent lower order pinch hitters Harbhajan Singh(14) and Deepak Chahar(39) who played their cameos to soak in the pressure.
Punjab tied with the statistical possibilities of reaching the play-offs, went in for the kill, but ended up being outplayed by Suresh Raina, who scored a composed 61 of 48 balls.
Earlier, put in to bat, Chennai bowlers did a fantastic job to bundle out Punjab for 153. Coming into bat when Punjab were in a spot of bother at 76/4 in the 12th over, Karun Nair plundered 54 runs off 26 balls to breathe life into the innings. The right-hander produced an exciting display of power hitting, smashing three boundaries and five towering sixes.
The Chennai bowlers came out all guns blazing at their adopted home ground to bundle out the visitors for a modest total. Lungi Ngidi was the wrecker-in-chief for the yellow brigade with stunning figures of 4/10 from his four overs.
The final four teams that enter the play-offs are Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.
All matches of the play-offs will be this week including the finals that are scheduled on Sunday.
With inputs from IANS
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