Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis help Chennai Super Kings to thrash Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets

In a nostalgic performance from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side, openers Shane Watson (83*) and Faf du Plessis (87*) partnered for 181-run and smashed a fifty each to gift their team a much-needed winning momentum. The Yellow Army, as they are famously known turned back clock to register a thumping 10-wicket over a strong Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) side.

Watson and du Plessis showed no signs of hangover from the 3 consecutive defeats their team had faced in the IPL 2020. Watson, especially, was on song from ball one as the Chennai were successful in getting 60 runs from their first 6 overs. Faf du Plessis went hard on birthday boy Chris Jordan and got 20 runs from the last over of the Powerplay.

The Australian-South African duo was so brutal in their approach that CSK crossed the 100-run mark in just 10 overs. Watson and du Plessis reached to their fifties in the 11th over and took 31 and 33 deliveries, respectively for it.

Shane Watson's rediscovered confidence saw him toying with the KXIP bowling attack. Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar had to face the wrath of 39-year-old one after the other. At the end of 16th over, Watson's individual score read -- 51 off 81 balls.

Du Plessis thought of helping a tired



Watson in the end and took charge by hitting 2 cosecutive boundaries off Jordan and then followed it with and 6 and 4 in next over from Mohammad Shami to win the match.

Earlier, after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Kings XI Punjab were off to a great start as KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal looked sharp as ever. Breathtaking boundaries kept on flowing from time to time, helping Punjab accumulate 46 in the Powerplay. Agarwal (26) was going strong but experienced Piyush Chawla's introduction in the 9th over saw a wicket him going on the first ball.

Mandeep Singh came in to join KL Rahul and stitched a 33-run partnership before departing on (27 off 16) at the end of 12th over. KL Rahul continued with his solid strokeplays completed his fifty off 46 balls with a six over long-off. He did not stop there and celebrated the fifty by smashing another 2 boundaries of Shardul Thakur.

Nocholas Pooran on the other end looked like a man on mission, hammering bowlers for humongous maximums. KXIP were looking set for a solid end but Shardul striked twice in succession to send both Pooran (33) and KL Rahul (63) packing.

KXIP ended their innings on 178 for in the end, thanks to two ramp shots from Sarfaraz Khan (14) in the final over.