UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Punjab Kings defeats Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets in the 53rd match of this IPL 2021. Punjab Kings ended their IPL campaign with 12 points and they’re almost out of the playoffs whereas Chennai Super Kings are already qualified for the playoffs. In this match after winning the toss, Punjab Kings opted to bowl first.
Chennai Super Kings started their batting innings very slowly and they kept losing wickets in quick successions. The in-form Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to contribute much as he fell for just 12 runs off 14 deliveries and after 3.5 overs Chennai was 18/1. From there on the Super Kings kept losing wickets.
Punjab Kings bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan ran through the Chennai middle order. The other Chennai opener Faf du Plessis was just watching his batting partners getting out in quick successions. Moeen Ali (0), Robin Uthappa (2), Ambati Rayudu (4), and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12) failed to contribute much for their team and Chennai Super Kings were struggling at 61/5 after 12 overs.
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From there Faf du Plessis played a splendid inning to help Chennai post a respectable total. Faf du Plessis scored a magnificent 76 runs off 55 deliveries which included 8 fours and 2 sixes. Ravindra Jadeja contributed 15 runs off 17 deliveries and he alongside Faf du Plessis took Chennai Super Kings to a total of 134/6 after 20 overs. For Punjab Kings, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan took 2 wickets each whereas Ravi Bishnoi and Mohammed Shami took 1 wicket each.
When Punjab Kings came out to start their batting innings, it was all about the KL Rahul show. KL Rahul started hitting the Chennai bowlers to all parts of the ground. Chennai got their first breakthrough in the form of Mayank Agarwal who scored 12 runs of 12 deliveries. Soon after Mayank got out, Sarfaraz Khan got out for a duck and Punjab Kings was 46/2 after 4.6 overs.
After the wicket of Sarfaraz, Shahrukh Khan came out to bat with the skipper KL Rahul who was just bashing the Chennai bowlers. When Shahrukh Khan got out, Punjab Kings was 80/3 after 9 overs. Aiden Markram joined KL Rahul in the middle after the wicket of Shahrukh Khan.
KL Rahul scored a blistering 98 runs off just 42 deliveries which included 7 fours and 8 massive sixes to help Punjab Kings achieve the target in just 13 overs. For Chennai Super Kings, Shardul Thakur took 3 wickets while Deepak Chahar took 1 wicket.
