KXIP’s IPL-run has been like a ball that was smashed with full venom and hoisted into the air but failed to clear the boundary and landed in the safe hands of misfortune. In their case, the ball was driven by complacency.

Nobody had really expected them to have the kind of start they’ve had and then, all of a sudden, they became the favorites. Suddenly the team made us understand that hell hath no fury like a Gayle scorned. And with the downfall of that particular player following his not-very-long impressive run took the team down as well.

KXIP had this problem from the beginning, even when they had won five of their first six clashes and that is, they never truly struck all the right notes. Their middle-order was incongruous. Their bowling attack conceded nearly 250 runs, when the need of picking at least one victory arose.

Lokesh Rahul was the most consistent man in the side and even he failed to meet the expectations when they needed a big win in their last clash. They knelt down before all the expectations that kept piling on the pressure after their magnificent start to the season.

According to all the equations, KXIP’s qualification to the playoff would bring Chennai Super Kings’ chances of finishing in the top two to an end and that made it more difficult for the Punjab-based side as they already had to face a revenge-hungry CSK in an away game after defeating them in the first half of the season.

Being sent to bat first in the last encounter of this season’s league round, KXIP’s job was to throw CSK under a truckload of runs and clinch a 53+ runs’ victory to stop Rajasthan Royals from advancing to the next round. But Chris Gayle got out in an attempt to deal with a delivery from Lungi Ngidi, the way KXIP have been dealing with their problems in the second half of the season — badly.

KL Rahul also missed his chance to replace Rishabh Pant at the top of the highest run-getters’ list as Ngidi struck for the second time in the game. The next batsman to return to the pavilion was Aaron Finch who got dismissed by Deepak Chahar, and standing at 16/3, KXIP saw what was coming their way and tried to tackle that with all they had. As a result, after a collapse in the top-order, the four batters in the middle became the only ones to have entered a double digit score for KXIP in this clash.

Manoj Tiwary and David Miller offered some resurgence to the hapless team with a 60-run stand. Karun Nair then clubbed a half-century which was followed by a 14-run knock by Axar Patel and another string of disappointing performances by the tailenders. KXIP were bundled out in 19.2 overs and had 153 runs on the board, which was undoubtedly insufficient for the requirement they had to slog through to go past the finishing line in the playoff race.

Meanwhile, Ngidi picked his four-fer, where three of his victims were out for a duck. DJ Bravo picked up the crucial wickets of Miller (24) and Nair (54). Ravindra Jadeja also took as many scalps while Shardul Thakur got a wicket to his name.

KXIP too took three of CSK’s wickets during the powerplay as Ankit Rajpoot hit twice after Mohit Sharma removed Ambati Rayudu. Another strike from the skipper, Ravichandran Ashwin, then put CSK in somewhat a problematic situation as they had a run rate less than six after the first ten overs.

CSK, however, restored their innings with a 56-run stand, 39 of which came from Chahar’s bat. Following his dismissal at the hands of Ashwin, Raina took the onus on himself to take the team home and remained not out on 61 runs while MS Dhoni also contributed 16 runs in their unbeaten 45-run partnership.

CSK won the contest by five wickets and registered the same number of victories (nine) as the table-toppers, Sunrisers Hyderabad. On the other hand, KXIP – who were sitting in the elite club for their first eleven games – finished in the seventh place just above the wooden spoon-winners, Delhi Daredevils.

In the qualifier 1 on May 22, CSK will take on SRH, whom they have defeated twice this season. The eliminator on the next day will see Kolkata Knight Riders facing Rajasthan Royals and the winner of this match will face the loser of the previous clash to decide the second finalists on May 25.