The Chennai Super Kings romped to a fairly comfortable win against Kings XI Punjab but just failed to steal the top spot in the table from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Had it not been for Man-of-the-Match Lungi Ngidi’s phenomenal bowling to take four KXIP wickets for just 10 runs, the result might well have gone the way of the Kings XI. Ngidi’s economy rate of 2.50 was leagues ahead of his team-mates, which ranged from 7.50 to 13.00 an over. Nonetheless, it was a good team effort in the field, with all the bowlers (bar Harbhajan Singh, who went for 13 off his only over) getting among the wickets, and Englishman Sam Billings taking a sensational diving catch in the deep off Shardul Thakur to remove Axar Patel for 14.
After being reduced to 16/3 in the fourth over, the KXIP recovered somewhat thanks to a blistering 54 off 26 balls (3 fours, 5 sixes, S/R 207.69) from Karun Nair, backed up by Manoj Tiwary (35 off 30 balls) and David Miller (24 off 22 balls). However, a lack of support from the tail saw them close on a disappointing 153 off 19.4 overs.
In response, CSK lost Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis and Billings by the fifth over and, with their score on 27, the KXIP target suddenly looked a lot more competitive. Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh (19 off 22 balls) righted the ship somewhat to lift the score to 58/4 halfway through the innings, before Deepak Chahar (39 off 20 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes, S/R 195.00) and MS Dhoni (16 not out off 7 balls) guided their team to victory. Raina ended undefeated on 61 off 48 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes).
| IPL2018 | M | W | L | T | N/R | PT | NRR | FOR | AGAINST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Sunrisers Hyderabad |
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0.284 | 2230/273.3 | 2193/278.4 |
2 Chennai Super Kings |
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0.253 | 2488/275.3 | 2433/277.1 |
3 Kolkata Knight Riders |
14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | -0.070 | 2363/265.1 | 2425/270.0 |
4 Rajasthan Royals |
14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | -0.250 | 2130/255.3 | 2141/249.2 |
5 Mumbai Indians |
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.317 | 2380/278.4 | 2282/277.3 |
6 Royal Challengers Bangalore |
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.129 | 2322/264.4 | 2383/275.4 |
7 Kings XI Punjab |
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -0.502 | 2210/268.4 | 2259/258.5 |
8 Delhi Daredevils |
14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 10 | -0.222 | 2297/258.0 | 2304/252.3 |
