Punjab Kings mounted a pragmatic chase to consign Chennai Super Kings to a demoralising seven-wicket defeat at their den in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
Punjab Kings rode quick 40s by Jonny Bairstow (46, 30b, 7x4, 1x6) and Rilee Rossouw (43, 23b, 5x4, 2x6) to move past CSK’s modest 162 for seven, which was built around skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 62 (48b, 5x4, 2x6).
The win took Punjab Kings to the seventh place on the points table with eight points, while CSK stayed on fourth with 10 points.
CSK’s defence of 163 faced multiple barricades as their spinners — Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja — were rendered ineffective because of dew and pacer Deepak Chahar walked off the field with a niggle after bowling just two balls.
But that should not take the sheen out of Punjab King's effort with the bat on the night.
After the early departure of opener Prabhsimran Singh, who played two convincing strokes, Bairstow and Rossouw kept the visitors in the hunt with a handy 64-run alliance as they also went past 50 in the PowerPlay segment.
Bairstow treated spinners Jadeja and Moeen with disdain taking three boundaries and a six off them. In stark contrast to their Punjab Kings counterparts, the CSK spinners gave away 44 runs in five overs without any return.
But Bairstow’s attempt to be too cheeky ended his stay. The England batter went for a cute ramp shot off Shivam Dube, but could only manage to feather it to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.
However, Rossouw and Shashank Singh (25 not out, 26b) made 44 runs in quick time as Punjab Kings remained ahead in the game.
Rossouw, who pummelled Dube and Thakur for a six each, had a brilliant chance to make a fifty. But his attempt to smash Thakur’s low full-toss out of the ground resulted in his stumps getting rearranged.
But those were minor irritants in an otherwise polished effort as Shashank and skipper Sam Curran (26 not out, 20b) knocked off the remaining runs without much fuss during their unbroken 50-run alliance.
Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad braved a sluggish Chepauk pitch and accurate Punjab Kings spinners to make a solid fifty but CSK could only post a modest 162 for seven.
Once they were asked to bat first, skipper Gaikwad (62, 48b, 5x4, 2x6) and his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (29, 24b) added 61 runs for the opening wicket but they consumed 49 balls for it.
There were flashes of intent in their alliance, though.
Gaikwad played a fine upper cut off Arshdeep Singh for a boundary over the slips and Rahane creamed three fours in a row off Sam Curran, including a lovely cover drive.
But they were too far and few in between to make a real impact. The slide of CSK began once Punjab Kings brought their spinners on immediately after the PowerPlay that yielded 55 for no loss.
Rahane tried to slog sweep Harpreet Brar but his skier ended in the hands of Rilee Rossouw in the deep.
But the left-arm spinner inflicted a bigger blow in the next delivery, trapping Shivam Dube leg before.
PTI
