Punjab Kings were back to winning ways, after the defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, as they beat Chennai Super Kings in Match 41 of TATA IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
A collective batting performance with breezy cameos from Prabhsimran Singh (42 off 24), Liam Livingstone (40 off 24), Sam Curran (29 off 20), Jitesh Sharma (21 off 10) saw Sikandar Raza (13 off 7) hold his nerve to chase down 9 in the last over to win a thrilling match by four wickets.
The ever-reliant Devon Conway (92* off 52) smacked his fifth fifty of the season to propel CSK to 200/4 as Dhoni provided finishing touches in Dhoni style with two sixes off the final two balls to the delight of the home crowd. But it were those small impactful performances from the PBKS batters that took the away side past the finish line.
Chasing 201, Shikhar Dhawan showed his attacking intent straightaway as he charged down the track and thumped one over covers off Akash Singh. He guided the next one to third man for the second four of the over. Impact Player Prabhsimran Singh opened his boundary account with a well-timed six over deep square leg off Tushar Deshpande. Dhawan kept attacking Akash as he cracked a six and a four in his next over to make it 14 off the over. Dhoni introduced spin early but Prabhsimran went after Maheesh Theekshana and hit a couple of fours to take 12 from the over. Dhawan brought the fifty-stand up with a four off Deshpande but the CSK pacer hit back to have Dhawan (28 off 15) caught in slip to provide the home team some relief.
PBKS reached 62/1 at the end of the Powerplay. Prabhsimran (42 off 24) kept the scoreboard ticking with his attacking approach but he missed one off Jadeja, charging down the track and swinging across the line, and was calmly stumped by Dhoni.
Jadeja got another one in his next over as he had Atharva Taide caught and bowled to dent PBKS. Jadeja, Theekshana and Pathirana bowled with discipline to slow down the run-flow and bring the equation to 72 needed off 30.
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Livingstone then opened up and cracked three sixes off Deshpande but the CSK pacer bounced back to dismiss the ominous-looking English Batter, having him caught at deep mid-wicket off a short ball. It was a huge wicket in the context of the game. PBKS amassed 24 from the over to bring the equation down to 48 off 24 balls. Curran took the attack to Jadeja in the next over, cracking a couple of sixes and hitting 17 runs. With 31 needed off 18, Pathirana provided a crucial moment as he cleaned up Curran (29 off 20). He bowled a decent over to give away 9 runs.
With 22 needed off 12, Jitesh Sharma cracked one over extra cover for a four off the first ball of the penultimate over from Deshpande but the CSK pacer bounced back to have Sharma caught a wide long on where Shaik Rasheed lost his balance and slipped while taking the catch but did really well to not touch the boundary hoardings. Sikandar Raza then got off the mark with a four off an outside edge to third man as CSK took 13 off the over. With 9 needed off 6, Pathirana gave away just two off the first three balls but then Raza dragged a couple to the leg side for a couple of twos to bring the equation down to 3 needed off 1. Raza held his nerve off the last ball, heaved one over backward square leg and scampered through the three as the fielder saved the boundary but couldn’t stop the batters completing the third run and getting past the finish line and spark wild celebrations.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings captain won the toss and elected to bat. They made one change to the starting XI as Ambati Rayudu replaced Akash Singh. They named Akash Singh, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar as their substitutes.
Punjab Kings too made one change to the starting eleven as Harpreet Brar replaced Gurnoor Brar. Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Rishi Dhawan, Mohit Rathee and Shivam Singh were named as the away team’s substitutes.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway got into the groove early as Gaikwad crunched a cover drive for the first four of the innings in the first over from Arshdeep Singh and Conway went after Kagiso Rabada, lofting one over extra cover for a four and charging down the track next ball and thumping one through covers to make it two fours in the over.
The duo attacked Arshdeep in the next over as Ruturaj unfurled a couple of well-placed and well-timed fours and then Conway pulled one behind square leg to make it three fours in the over.
Sam Curran came into the attack and bowled a tight over, conceding just three runs. Gaikwad hit the first maximum of the innings as he lofted one over long on off Rahul Chahar, who was brought into the attack early.
Conway lofted a couple over mid on for consecutive fours off Curran in the next over to bring up CSK’s fifty and Ruturaj pulled on to fine leg for the third four of the over as the home side reached 57/0 at the end of the Powerplay.
The PBKS spinners – Chahar and Sikandar Raza – wrestled back some control and the Zimbabwe all-rounder finally broke the 86-run stand as he had Gaikwad stumped for 37 (31). PBKS gave away 33 runs from the 6-10 over phase and picked up the wicket of Gaikwad in that phase as CSK reached 90/1 at the halfway mark.
CSK upped the scoring in the 12th over as Shivam Dube smacked a six off Chahar and Conway brought up his fifty off 30 balls, his fifth half-century of the season, with a reverse-swept four. The pair took on Rabada in the next over and amassed 14 off it.
Arshdeep then came back to break the 44-run stand at a crucial juncture as he had Dube (28 off 17) caught at long on off a slower delivery.
Conway and Moeen made sure the pressure didn’t build post a wicket as they cracked three fours off Liam Livingstone in the next over and took 12 off the 16th over from Curran.
Dhawan brought back Chahar and he struck off the first ball of his final over, having Moeen (10 off 6) stumped. Conway though continued to make merry, smacking a couple of fours off Chahar. PBKS bowlers pulled things back in the slog overs but MS Dhoni provided the final flurry with two sixes off the last two balls of the innings to take CSK to 200/4 at the end of 20 overs.
Conway remained unbeaten on 92 off 52 balls while Dhoni remained not out on 13 off 4.
PBKS introduced Prabhsimran Singh as their Impact Player, replacing Kagiso Rabada and CSK brought on Akash Singh as their Impact Player, in place of Ambati Rayudu at the start of the second innings.
