CSK vs PBKS Match Highlights

Punjab Kings won by 11 runs. The match gave us all we had wanted, the two teams fought hard like Kings for the victory but it was Punjab who went to their fort with smiling faces. Even though Chennai Super Kings tried hard, Punjab’s bowling restricted them 11 runs short of the total.

Chennai lacked in building partnerships and a couple of crucial wickets in the middle became the reason for their defeat. Rayudu tried his best to save the match for his team by scoring a blizzard 78 off 39 balls but did not have a stable partner at the other end. Having to chase 27 from the last over, it looked almost impossible for a duo like Jadeja and Dhoni to win the match from such a grave for CSK. The last over did concede a couple of sixes but it was not enough. Dismissing Dhoni on the third ball of the over, Rishi Dhawan ensured that the game was over for the yellow team. Special mention to Punjab’s bowlers who did not give much chance to Chennai’s batters to have partnership in the middle overs and restricted them quite well.

The losing captain Jadeja talked about what went wrong during the post match presentation as he said “I think we started very well, with the new ball we bowled in good areas, but I thought we gave away 10-15 runs in the last 2-3 overs and we didn’t execute our plan very well. I think [Rayudu] was batting brilliantly, but as I said we could have restricted them under 170-175. [On the chase] I think not getting a good start in the first six, we’re not putting runs on the board in the first six. So we need to improve on that and come back strong.”

The winning Captain Mayank Agarwal looked jubilant after the win as he said “It doesn’t matter but we’d like to win a few tosses but it’s hard when you have to chase the game from the start. [On what the turning point was] I thought Arsh bowled exceedingly well. I must credit him. Throughout the season, he’s stood up in tough moments and he’s bowled the tough overs. He’s always put his hand up and said, ‘Gimme the ball! So he’s been great for us. Even Rabada was fantastic, to get [Gaikwad] and Rayudu at that time was very crucial.

I can’t really pinpoint, but I would say these two with the ball really changed the game towards us. Not just as a captain, but as a team you need to be really smart and use the longer side of the boundary. You want the opposition to hit as many runs as possible on the longer side because there’s more chances of them getting out so that does make a difference. As a batter, you need to pick the balls that you can really get out there because you know if you mishit or even if they middle it, you may get the result you want.”

Punjab Kings 187/4
Chennai Super Kings (20 overs) 176/6
Punjab Kings won by 11 runs

PLAYER OF THE MATCH- SHIKHAR DHAWAN