Smart cricket, good running seal deal for PBKS

CHENNAI: In Sunday’s Indian Premier League 2023 high-scoring thriller at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where 401 runs were amassed and 51 boundaries were hit across 40 overs, it all boiled down to running between the wickets.

Twenty two boundaries (13 fours and nine sixes) put Punjab Kings on the brink of a historic victory over Chennai Super Kings (200/4) – the touring team required 11 runs off the last seven balls to achieve the highest successful chase by a visiting side at the venue.

Just one hit away from reducing the equation to a run-a-ball, Punjab, with Sikandar Raza and Shahrukh Khan at the crease, struggled to find the fence. So, PBKS was left with no option but to knock off the remaining runs with some smart cricket.

T20 globetrotter Raza (13 not out), who turned 37 last week, and Shahrukh (2 not out) ran like men possessed when the former found the gaps, taking Punjab (201/6) home in the final ball of the cliff-hanger. The duo completed two doubles and a three off the last three deliveries of the match that were sent down by CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana.

Among the good pieces of running, the three off the final ball stood out. The equation reading three runs needed off one ball for a PBKS win, CSK captain MS Dhoni shuffled the fielders to ensure the best ones were in the hot spots.

With Pathirana on top of his run-up, the visitor delayed the proceedings, because of lack of communication between the on-field batters and the players and staff in the dugout. Those in the shed pitched the idea of replacing Shahrukh with Harpreet Brar at the non-striker’s end – in the post-match press conference, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar provided clarity, saying: “Brar can run faster than Shahrukh”.

But, eventually Raza and Shahrukh stayed in the middle and walked back to their respective positions. Seconds before facing the last ball, Raza scanned the field setting and shadow-practised a shot towards the deep square-leg region.

The Zimbabwean produced a carbon copy of it when it mattered, working the ball over the square-leg fielder and in between two boundary riders. A tag-team of Maheesh Theekshana and Ruturaj Gaikwad did its best, but could not prevent PBKS from emerging triumphant as Raza and Shahrukh had enough time to run three.

After the end of the match, an elated Raza said: “With Shahrukh on the other side, we always said that we were one boundary away from run-a-ball. ‘If we cannot get that boundary, we are going to run well’. I think that we ended up winning by running rather than hitting boundaries.” Thanks to Raza and Shahrukh, Punjab had a good ‘run’ in Chennai.