In a thriller between 8th and 9th placed sides in the IPL table, Punjab Kings eventually managed to get the better of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 11 runs. The win pushes Punjab to the 6th spot in the table while CSK stays 9th in the points table, only above winless Mumbai.
Chasing 188 to win, Chennai’s chase looked over within the first 7 overs as they were reduced to 40 for 3 having lost Uthappa, Santner, and Shivam Dube. However, that brought Ambati Rayudu to the crease and he brought the game back to life. First in the company of Ruturaj and then with captain Ravindra Jadeja, Rayudu tore apart the Punjab bowling including hitting 3 successive sixes off Sandeep Sharma.
Punjab’s death bowling bails them out
Punjab’s death bowlers, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada kept their cool in the face of the onslaught with Rabada finally accounting for Rayudu. Some excellent bowling by the duo left Rishi Dhawan, playing his first IPL game after a long gap, with 27 to defend off the final over. Even though MS Dhoni threatened to pull off a heist in the last over for the second successive game, Dhawan defended the target comfortably in the end.
Dhawan shines with the bat
Earlier in the day, Chennai won the toss and put Punjab into bat. CSK’s bowlers kept Punjab in check initially with skipper Mayank Agarwal in particular struggling to get away eventually getting dismissed for just 18 off the 21 balls he faced. His fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan found an able partner in Sri Lankan Rajapaksa, who made a return to the side in place of Odean Smith. The duo put together 110 runs in 69 balls setting the stage perfectly for a late assault from Livingstone and Bairstow.
Dhawan eventually batted through the innings to stay unbeaten on 88 off 59 balls and guided Punjab to a very competitive 187 for 4 in their 20 overs.
On a good pitch, the target of 188 was still not out of reach, but Punjab’s bowlers never allowed CSK to get away during the first half of the innings. Even Rayudu’s 39 balls 78 was not enough to make up for it in the end thanks to some excellent death bowling by Arshdeep and Rabada.
