Abu Dhabi: Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad on Sunday scored a third consecutive half century to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) finish their 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) season on a high and end Kings XI Punjab's (KXIP) hopes of making it to the playoffs.
Gaikwad ended the innings unbeaten on 62 off 49 balls, following up on scores of 65 not out and 72 in the last two matches, and helped CSK chase down a target of 154 with nine wickets and nearly two overs to spare at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Gaikwad, 23, thus ends the season on 204 runs in just six matches with an average of 51 and strike rate of 120.71.
Gaikwad first put up an 82-run opening stand with Faf du Plessis, who fell on 48 to Chris Jordan. Ambati Rayudu then stuck with Gaikwad and the pair put up 72 for the second wicket to take them to the victory.
Earlier Deepak Hooda cracked an unbeaten 62 off 30 balls to take KXIP to a competitive 153/6 in an IPL match against Chennai Super Kings CSK.
Hooda, 25, walked in after Chris Gayle's dismissal left KXIP tottering at 72/4 in the 12th over. He went on the attack straightaway, scoring most of the runs in a 36-run stand with Mandeep Singh for the fifth wicket. Chris Jordan later stuck with him and the pair put up 40 runs for the seventh wicket, 34 off which was scored by Hooda off just 12 balls. He hit three fours and four sixes in his innings.
CSK have thus climbed to seventh, while KXIP are fifth, although final positions of both sides on the table will be dependent upon the remaining league stage matches
Brief scores: KXIP 153/6 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 62 not out, KL Rahul 29; Lungi Ngidi 3/39) vs CSK 154/1 in 18.1 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 62 not out, Faf du Plessis 48; Chris Jordan 1/31)