PBKS wins round one

CHENNAI: Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar surprised everyone as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) faltered one after the other to the spin duo and went down to Punjab Kings (PBKS) at home on Wednesday.

Chasing 163, Prabhsimran Singh could not repeat his heroics, courtesy of some amazing bowling by debutant Richard Gleeson, who was swinging the ball both ways. Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw put up a second-wicket stand of 64 runs, which gave PBKS some crucial runs. Thereafter Shashank Singh and Sam Curran steered PBKS to a famous win, leaving CSK with questions before they travel to Dharamsala later this week.

Earlier in the evening, there was a fresh wicket being used at Chepauk for the first time this season, and Gaikwad went after Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh to open up and play his big shots. Ajinkya Rahane kept the scoreboard ticking, and the duo brought up their 50-run partnership at the end of the powerplay. It was also the first time CSK didn’t lose a single wicket in the powerplay, and things looked bright. However, what followed was some spin magic from the duo of Brar and Chahar, who gave CSK a taste of their own medicine. The opening partnership was quickly broken in the ninth over as Brar picked up his first wicket of this IPL season, forcing Rahane to get low and play a slog sweep shot that picked up a top-edge, and Rilee Rossouw made no mistake at deep mid-wicket. He followed it up with his second by dismissing the dangerous Shivam Dube, who misjudged a full ball while going for a sweep shot; he reviewed the original decision, but the ball was crashing onto the middle stick. Suddenly, wickets started toppling one after the other, and by the end of the 10th over, CSK had exhausted all its reviews. Ravindra Jadeja was tested by Chahar, whose full ball turned off and hit Jadeja on the front leg; he went upstairs only to be turned back after the checks.

CSK, known for its prowess against spin, fumbled against the spell of Brar and Chahar, who managed to silence the Chennai crowd and also dry out CSK of its boundaries. If one had to point out the impact spinners made halfway through the game, at the powerplay, CSK was 55/0, and since then, CSK managed to score just 26 runs. At the end of the 13th over, CSK was 85/3. Sameer Rizvi added some runs to the board but had to depart courtesy of an easy catch for Harshal Patel off Kagiso Rabada.

The first six of the match came after 16.2 overs as Gaikwad brought up his half-century.

Jonny Bairstow tipped Moeen Ali’s shot over for a six. A brilliant innings by Gaikwad had to come to an end in the eighteenth over; a yorker outside leg touched the bat and went on to hit the stumps. Chahar came back to pick the wicket of Ali.

The final over of the first innings gave away 13 runs, with MS Dhoni hitting Arshdeep outside off for a maximum, as CSK put up a target of 163 on the board.

With the league opening up more, to add to CSK’s woes, Pathirana picked up a niggle and was out on Wednesday. Deepak Chahar walked back after just two balls into his spell, and the match could well be Mustafizur Rahman’s last before he leaves for national duty.

BRIEF SCORE: Chennai Super Kings 162/7 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 62) lost to Punjab Kings 163/3 in 17.5 overs (Jonny Bairstow 46, Rilee Rossouw 43)