Ravindra Jadeja, on Sunday, once again showed why he has the luxury of enjoying a guaranteed spot in the Indian team. The all-rounder turned out to be the best batter and bowler for Chennai Super Kings as they beat Punjab Kings by 28 runs in Dharamsala.
With this win, Chennai snapped their five-match losing streak against Punjab.
When Chennai struggled with the bat after being sent in, Jadeja came up with a counterattacking 43 off 26 balls. Even then, their total of 167/9 looked insufficient, more so with the Punjab batters being in good form of late. But Jadeja once again stepped up, spinning a web to snare 3/20 as Punjab managed only 139/9 in their 20 overs.
Defending a low total, the entire Chennai bowling unit excelled. Pacer Tushar Deshpande (2/35), who was making a comeback, and Impact Player Simarjeet Singh (2/16) too rattled Punjab. Mention must also be made of left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who bowled a miserly spell of 1/10 from three overs while bowling for the first time in the season.
Jadeja, adjudged Man of the Match, said that they thought they were "15-20 runs short" but could still pull it off because of a disciplined show with the ball.
"It was a day game, so the wicket was slow. As usual, it was expected because it was so hot. The fast bowlers bowled well in the Powerplay. Tushar got two important wickets and then Mitch and me did the job in the middle overs. The pitch always seems flat in the Powerplay. But when the ball gets old, the ball does not always come on," Jadeja said.
"When playing at a new venue, you don't know how much it will turn or stop. We thought we were 15-20 runs short, but we did not bowl loose balls in the Powerplay and the middle overs."
The Punjab bowlers too had actually bowled well to restrict the powerful Chennai batting line-up. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (3/23) and seamer Harshal Patel (3/24) were bang on target to stifle Ruturaj Gaikwad's team.
Ruturaj (32) himself and Daryll Mitchell (30) got starts, but could not carry on for long. But as wickets continued to tumble at one end, Jadeja held up the other and scored at a brisk pace as well. Punjab could only dismiss him in the last over of the innings.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a quiet day, being dismissed off the first ball he faced.
