PBKS vs CSK: Punjab kneels in front of Tushar-Jadeja
Chennai Super Kings have finally put an end to their losing streak against Punjab Kings. Chennai, who lost to Punjab in the last match played at their home ground Chepauk, this time registered a resounding victory in Dharamsala. While many matches this season saw big scores, the bowlers made a strong comeback in the last few matches and in this match too, the bowlers decided the match. After the initial setbacks from fast bowler Tushar Deshpande, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja destroyed Punjab’s middle order and led the team to a 28-run victory.
Punjab played its first match of the season in its second home ground of Dharamshala and its bowlers performed brilliantly and restricted Chennai to 167 runs. But Punjab, which had won the last two matches on the strength of its batting, failed this time. After Tushar Deshpande’s deadly spell, the team’s batsmen kept losing wickets in an attempt to play big shots and the entire team could score only 139 runs.
Punjab bowlers shine
Punjab bowlers showed their shine in this match. Pacer Arshdeep Singh took the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane in the second over itself. After this, captain Rituraj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) quickly added 57 runs. This is where Chennai’s innings suddenly faltered. In the eighth over, Rahul Chahar (3/23) took the wickets of Gaikwad and Shivam Dubey on consecutive balls, while Harshal Patel (3/24) also dismissed Mitchell immediately. 4 wickets had fallen for just 75 runs.
Jadeja took over
From here Ravindra Jadeja (43) entered the crease and held one end. However, wickets kept falling from the other end. After Mitchell Santner was out in the 16th over, it seemed that MS Dhoni would come in but this did not happen and Shardul Thakur was sent in. Shardul scored some runs quickly and was out in the 19th over. Then Dhoni entered but this time he could not give the finishing touch and Harshal bowled him on the first ball. Ravindra Jadeja definitely took the team to 167 runs.
Tushar’s sensational over
Punjab had won the last two matches on the basis of explosive batting and by stopping Chennai from scoring big, the team seemed to be in a better position this time too, but once the batting started, everything turned upside down. Fast bowler Tushar Deshpande (2/35), who returned to Chennai’s playing eleven after getting fit, bowled out Jonny Bairstow and Riley Russo in the second over itself. Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh certainly counter-attacked and took the team to 62 runs, but from here CSK’s spinners dominated.
Jadeja finished off the middle order
In the 8th over, spinner Mitchell Santner got rid of Shashank and in the 9th over, Jadeja (3/20) got rid of Prabhsimran. Then in the 10th over, Simarjit Singh got rid of Jitesh Sharma on the first ball. Now captain Sam Curran and Ashutosh Sharma were the last hopes but in the 13th over, Jadeja got rid of both of them and destroyed all hopes. In the end, the last 4 batsmen including Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar together added 61 runs and took the team to 139 runs but it was not enough.
