Picture Credit: X/IPL
On Sunday, May 5, Chennai Super Kings defeated Punjab Kings by 28 runs to secure their sixth win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Ravindra Jadeja was the star performer for CSK with both bat and ball, scoring a match-defining 43 off 26 before picking up three wickets of PBKS in their pursuit of a 168-run target.
After winning the toss, Sam Curran, the Punjab Kings captain, decided to put Chennai Super Kings into batting first. After Ajinkya Rahane lost his wicket in the second over, the CSK captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell put together a 57-run stand for the second wicket, to put them in control.
But the two wickets in consecutive balls from Rahul Chahar brought PBKS back into the match. At 75/4, Ravindra Jadeja walked out to the middle for CSK, scoring 43 off 26 with three fours and two maximums, to ensure that they reached 167/9 in their allotted overs.
Apart from Rahul Chahar, it was Harshal Patel, who picked up three wickets for Punjab Kings, castling the likes of Shardul Thakur and MS Dhoni on consecutive deliveries.
In the run chase, Tushar Deshpande gave a fantastic start to Chennai Super Kings in the powerplay, castling Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the same over to put PBKS on the backfoot. Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh brought Punjab Kings back into the match with a 53-run stand for the third wicket.
But after Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh lost their wickets in quick succession to the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner respectively, a procession started in the PBKS batting lineup. Although the bottom half ensured that CSK couldn’t bowl them out in the allotted overs, with their innings ending on 139/9.
