IPL 2019, KXIP vs CSK, Match 55: du Plessis, Raina power Chennai to 170/5

After Watson's dismissal, Raina and du Plessis then anchored the innings, and played sensibly to further develop 120-run second wicket partnership help and help CSK post a fighting total as their lower middle-order failed to contribute.

Faf du Plessis (96 off 55) and Suresh Raina's (53 off 38) brilliant knocks powered Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to 170/5 against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Mohali on Sunday. Put into bat, the opening pair of Shane Watson and du Plessis gave CSK a good start by adding 30 runs in the first four overs. After Watson's dismissal, Raina and du Plessis then anchored the innings, and played sensibly to further develop 120-run second wicket partnership help and help CSK post a fighting total as their lower middle-order failed to contribute. Meanwhile, du Plessis also notched up his second half-century of the season off 37 balls.

Fantastic Faf scores 96(55) in Mohali https://t.co/suqawIJgEE

— Shivam Sharma (@Shivam_Sharma33) May 5, 2019

Just when it seemed that the duo will comfortably steer Chennai to an imposing total, Raina mistimed a slower delivery by Curran to give an easy catch to Mohammed Shami at short fine-leg.

Suresh Raina's well compiled 53(38) https://t.co/aQyOguR2Rd

— Shivam Sharma (@Shivam_Sharma33) May 5, 2019

Sam Curran (3/35) starred for the hosts.

Sam Curran's impressive 3-wicket haul https://t.co/cfWQxeM46k

— Shivam Sharma (@Shivam_Sharma33) May 5, 2019

Curran struck again in the 19th over to send back a well-settled du Plessis, who fell short of his century by just four runs with Chennai's scorecard reading 163/3. Shami then dismissed Kedar Jadhav (0) and Ambati Rayudu (1) cheaply in the final over as Chennai skipper M.S. Dhoni (10) and Dwayne Bravo (1) remained unbeaten at the end of 20 overs.