CHENNAI: When nine runs were needed in the final over for Punjab Kings to seal the victory against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, the visitors were clear favourites. For starters, they had Sikandar Raza and Shahrukh Khan on strike, all they required was just one big hit to get them closer. But they were up against Matheesha Pathirana.
The Lankan slinger is fast-becoming MS Dhoni’s go-to option in death and he has delivered consistently with the ball. Before even the first ball of the over was bowled, it was clear that he had an edge over Shahrukh who had struggled to pick the pacer. However, Raza was unflustered. He took a leaf out of the man with the gloves behind the stumps. Raza picked the field, took a single here, a two there, and a two here, bringing the equation down to three from one. And on the final ball, he flicked Pathirana in the gap and ran three to take Punjab home in a last-ball thriller.
It was a perfectly orchestrated T20 chase where a team chased 201 in 20 overs with not a single batter facing more than 24 balls. Everyone who came in did their job, including Liam Livingstone who bided his time against spinners before going berserk against Tushar Deshpande. He struck three sixes off Deshpande in an over, shifting the moment towards the visiting Kings. It was his 24-ball 40 that set the tone in the last few overs.
That Deshpande over, despite him earning the purple cap with 17 scalps, was the turning point. However, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming threw his weight behind the pacer after the four-wicket defeat. In fact, he and captain Dhoni admitted that they were a few runs short after the kind of start they had, thanks to Devon Conway who smashed an unbeaten 52-ball 92. “The last few overs when we were batting, we could have gotten 10-15 runs more. Our bowling needed some cushion,’’ Dhoni said after the loss.
Earlier, having gotten to 158/2 in 16 overs when Moeen Ali got out, CSK sent in Ravindra Jadeja, who struggled to get going before being dismissed in the last over for 12 runs from ten balls. Dhoni did a Dhoni hitting the last two balls for six, giving the 35,000 fans a moment to remember.
Brief scores: CSK 200/4 in 20 ovs (Conway 92 n.o) lost to PBKS 201/6 in 20 ovs (Livingstone 40, Prabhsimran 42; Deshpande 3/49).
David trumps Goliath innings
MUMBAI: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s superb 124 went in vain as Tim David hit three sixes in the final over to help Mumbai Indian pull off a thrilling six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the 1,000th match of the IPL. Needing 17 off the last over, David (45 n.o) cleared the ropes three times to chase down the target of 213. Earlier, Jaiswal hit his maiden ton to propel Royals to 212/7. Brief scores: RR 212/7 in 20 ovs (Jaiswal 124; Arshad 3/39) lost to MI 214/4 in 19.3 ovs (Surya 55, Green 44).
