Twitter Reactions: Chennai Super Kings end Kings' journey in IPL 2018

The Chennai Super Kings knocked out the Kings XI Punjab out of the IPL 2018. The stage was all set for the final league game of the season in Pune. Coming in to the game, the Kings needed to win the game by a margin of 53 runs or more to qualify for the playoffs. Neither did the KXIP side keep a check on the margin, nor could they beat the Super Kings. With the defeat, they crash out of the tournament.

At the same time, the Super Kings now have a strong hold on the second position in the points table that seals them two shots at the finals. Furthermore, KXIP’s defeat saw the whole of Jaipur and the Rajasthan Royals cheering as they have now qualified for the playoffs.

Earlier in the game, the Chennai Super Kings invited the Kings XI Punjab to bat first. The visitors had a horror start to their innings with Lungi Ngidi dismissing Chris Gayle for a duck in the second over. The next over saw Deepak Chahar getting rid of Aaron Finch. An over later, Ngidi cleaned up the in-form batsman KL Rahul. The Kings batting looked in absolute disarray as Manoj Tiwary and David Miller joined hands at the crease.

It is worth noting that both these gentlemen had played only a handful of games in the lead up to this match. Despite this, they showed resilience to add 60 runs for the fourth wicket. Miller scored 24 off 22 balls and Tiwary finished with a 30-ball 35. Unfortunately for the visitors, both set batsmen perished in quick succession.

Things looked grim for them when Karun Nair decided to take the counter attack. Nair hammered a quick 26-ball 54 with three fours and five sixes to get his side to a respectable total. Riding on Nair’s late blitz, the Kings managed to get 153 in 19.4 overs before getting bundled out. For the Chennai Super Kings, Lungi Ngidi finished with figures of 4/10.

In the run chase, CSK did not have the best of starts. They lost Ambati Rayudu early in the run chase. Soon, a double strike from Ankit Rajpoot saw Faf du Plessis and Sam Billings head back to the pavilion in quick time. The hosts shocked everyone by using strange tactics. Harbhajan Singh and Deepak Chahar were promoted ahead of MS Dhoni. While Harbhajan struggled for his 22, Chahar hit a quick 20-ball 39.

Amidst all this, Suresh Raina played the anchoring knock to stay unbeaten on 61 off 48 deliveries to see his side home. Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni fittingly hit the winning runs to seal the win for his side with a six.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted to the match:

Congrats to the @rajasthanroyals family for making the play offs – we did it ! So happy for everyone involved & what an amazing effort it was to comeback after the first half of the tournament !! Feeling very proud of you all right now ! 👍

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 20, 2018

MS Dhoni takes CSK home with a brilliant six off Mohit Sharma. #IPL #CSK pic.twitter.com/GaqNXaEhZ4

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) May 20, 2018

KXIP's season:

First 6 matches – Won 5, Lost 1
Last 8 matches – Won 1, Lost 7

Result: Disqualified and finished 7th in points table. #CSKvKXIP

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 20, 2018

Pic 1: Ghar se nikalte hi

Pic 2: Kuch dur chalte hi#IPL #KXIP pic.twitter.com/uqimJGlg5Q

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 20, 2018

CSK have finished in the top-4 in the points table in each of the nine seasons that they have been part of IPL – the only team to do so.

Suresh Raina has scored 300-plus runs in each of the 11 IPL season – the only player to do so#CSKvKXIP

— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) May 20, 2018

KXIP's car after first six matches in this IPL. #CSKvKXIP pic.twitter.com/P4h2Okrkdt

— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) May 20, 2018

there should be a separate tournament between DD, KXIP and RCB. and a quadri-lateral series between MI, CSK, SRH and KKR. RR can fit in either.

— samreen (@_whatsinaname) May 20, 2018

#CSKvKXIP
Royals qualified for playoffs
Anushka Virat pic.twitter.com/rjfaEAO0wb

— Dr. Gill (@ikpsgill1) May 20, 2018

Oh Balle Balle @rajasthanroyals @IPL

— Ish Sodhi (@ish_sodhi) May 20, 2018

Just In : "I was expecting my friend, my idol, my old captain of my old team, M S Dhoni would help his old fellow mate's team to qualify for the Playoffs by losing tonight by a margin of 53+ runs, but he betrayed me. I am heartbroken tonight."

– R Ashwin #CSKvKXIP pic.twitter.com/a106LfWhCQ

— TIMES HOW (@TiimesHow) May 20, 2018

Dhoni finishes off in style!

5th time he's hit a six to finish a successful chase in IPL. #CSKvKXIP

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 20, 2018

Dhoni-Six and Playoffs-@ChennaiIPL.

Too familiar with these. #IPL

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 20, 2018

Last ball MSD six and that's it – Playoffs and Top Two! Couldn't have scripted it better. #IPL2018

— Manya (@CSKian716) May 20, 2018

Well played @ImRaina held it together and that one over finished it. Used all his experience to play out the burst from Mohit and Rajpoot and then close it out. #CSKvKXIP

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 20, 2018

Bad luck Punjab, good luck Rajasthan!

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 20, 2018

Wishing @SunRisers , @ChennaiIPL , @KKRiders & @rajasthanroyals best of luck for #VIVOIPL 2018 Playoffs @IPL

— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) May 20, 2018

6 overs 73 to win. No problem, @ChennaiIPL do it in 5.1 overs. Wonderful knock from @ImRaina , and very clever to send Bhajji and Chahar up the order and catch the opposition by surprise #CSKvKXIP

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 20, 2018

My boys are in the knock out stages … Well done @rajasthanroyals #IPL2018

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 20, 2018

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