Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 4 wickets in Indian Premier League (IPL) match number 41 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday.
Prabhsimran Singh scored for Punjab with a 42 from 24 balls as Liam Livingstone made 40 runs from 24 balls as Shahrukh Khan and Sikandar Raza took their side to a thrilling victory on the last ball.
Chasing 201 for a win, Punjab needed nine points from the final against Matheesha Pathirana who conceded just two from the first three deliveries. But Raza remained calm under immense pressure, scoring two runs apiece on the next two deliveries.
Raza (13 not out) sent the final ball towards the boundary but Maheesh Theekshana stopped it just before the ropes in a brilliant fielding effort, but by then the PBKS batters had completed three runs in the stunned silence of the local crowd in Chepauk.
Punjab finished at 201 for 6 as Prabhsimran Singh (42), Liam Livingstone (40), Sam Curran (29) and Jitesh Sharma (21) played crucial roles as CSK fly-half’s brilliant 92 Devon Conway did not go out in vain.
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The Punjab batters did well to pull out a win after victory looked tough in the middle before Livingstone and Curran turned the tide. The 24 points conceded by Tushar Deshpande in the 16th turned out to be crucial in the final analysis.
With 22 runs needed from 12 balls, Jitesh Sharma (21 from 10 balls) hit the first ball for a four and got two on the next. He fell from the fourth ball, caught by substitute Shaik Rasheed from deep. The third umpire ruled out the batter after the fielder caught the ball and tripped near the boundary line.
Deshpande finished with 3 for 49 from his four overs while Ravindra Jadeja took 2 for 32 in his four over quota.
The Punjab batters started the chase with a quick position between captain Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Prabhsimran Singh before the former fell to Deshpande. The openers brought the 50 on the power play. Dhawan’s attempt to cut on the pitch saw him find Matheesha Pathirana on the top edge.
Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide (13) added 44 points in record time before the latter became Jadeja’s first casualty. Prabhsimran jumped out of the crease and saw the ball spin slightly, beating it for Dhoni to complete an easy stump.
Taide was next to go, caught and beaten by Jadeja for 13 as Punjab slipped to 94 for 3 in the 11th.
Things seemed to be moving away from PBKS as the batters couldn’t find the big over and the required pace continued to climb. But Raza and M Shahrukh Khan (2 not out) scored 15 points on eight balls to see PBKS cross the target.
Earlier, Devon Conway’s sublime runs of 92 of 52 unbeaten, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 37 of 31 and MS Dhoni’s straight six on the last two balls propelled CSK to 200/4 against PBKS.
After Conway and Gaikwad provided a strong start and stitched up an 86-point opening partnership, Shivam Dube played a fine cameo 28 of 17 and then Dhoni played with his vintage style as he finished the innings with two sixes back to back.
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Battling first, CSK got off to a good start as the opening combination of Gaikwad and Conway lifted 57/0 in the Power-play with their good shot selections. After a few quiet recoveries, the duo picked up the pace of innings with hits.
When PBKS were in desperate need of a wicket, Sikander Raza provided a much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Gaikwad for 37 from 10, ending an opening partnership of 86 runs and CSK were 90/1 halfway through the innings.
Soon, Conway finished his 5th fifty of the season with 31 balls with a limit by a reverse sweep. Then Dube crushed Kagiso Rabada for maximum on a shooting ball.
When the pair were taking the bowlers to the cleaners, Arshdeep Singh ended Dube’s quick cameo in the 14th, trapping him in the slower ball. Dube looked to throw it but got the end of the bat. He soared into the air towards long sur where Shahrukh Khan settled by the ropes and made a nice hold.
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Conway started the 15th with a nice boundary on extra bowling coverage from Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali also joined the party as he wasted no time and hammered his first boundary ball and Conway finished with a four.
Then Moeen smashed Sam Curran’s slower ball into extra coverage for four before Rahul Chahar got it on the 17th. But Conway was on his good manners as he finished the most with two consecutive limits.
In the final over, Curran fired Ravindra Jadeja and there was a huge roar when MS Dhoni came to bat. The next ball, Conway fired it without too much time and hit it flat in the middle of the wicket. Livingstone came running from the middle of the wicket and slid in to take the hold, but was unsure and the refs come up to check.
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The third referee checked numerous replays before concluding that there was no substantial evidence that the fingers were under the ball. Not Out hit the big screen, it was a single and Dhoni got the strike.
Then the skipper finished in his vintage style with straight sixes on the last two balls of the innings.
(With agency contributions)
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