IPL 2018, CSK vs KXIP: 5 talking points from the match between Chennai Superkings and Kings XI Punjab

#1 MS Dhoni's Deepak Chahar gamble plays off

Having already impressed with the ball, Deepak Chahar made a mark with the bat tonight

CSK had pretty much nothing to play for tonight having all but sealed their place in the Qualifier match against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday and made the most of the opportunity to try out a few things with their line-up tonight.

Though there weren't many changes in the playing eleven, with just Du Plessis getting a look in ahead of Shane Watson, skipper Dhoni did try out a few things with his batting line-up tonight and, as is the case with Captain Cool, more often than not, it paid off.

With the Kings XI fast bowlers making a splendid start, especially Rajpoot, who was on a hat-trick with CSK struggling at 27/3, Dhoni sent in Harbhajan Singh at the No. 5 spot despite seeing Billings having his off stump knocked out first ball by a jaffa from Rajpoot.

Harbhajan swung hard throughout his stay at the crease and though his bat hardly connected with the ball, his 22-ball stay at the crease helped CSK recover from the early setbacks and once he was dismissed, Dhoni followed it up by sending in Deepak Chahar to join Suresh Raina in the middle.

Unlike Bhajji, Chahar made sweet contact with the ball, scoring 39 off 20 balls in his cameo which featured three sixes as well.

His knock ended any hopes Kings XI would have had of making it to the playoffs and ultimately paved the way for his side's victory tonight.

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