CHENNAI: Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar’s spin restricted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batters at MA Chidambaram Stadium as the hosts could reach a moderate score of 162/7 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Wednesday. Both Chahar and Harpreet took two wickets each.
Put to bat first, CSK batters failed to gather runs in the beginning. However, the openers recovered well as Ruturaj Gaikwad hit a four on the third ball of Arshdeep Singh’s over, collecting up 10 runs. The openers Ajinkya Rahane and Gaikwad slammed Arshdeep for 14 runs while hammering PBKS stand-in captain Sam Curran for 18 runs with the help of four boundaries.
CSK ended the powerplay at 55/0. In the 9th over, Harpreet Brar gave CSK two big blows as he removed Rahane and Shivam Dube, conceding just 3 runs.
CSK’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was removed by Rahul Chahar for just two runs. In the 15th over, Harshal Patel started with five wides as he bowled a horrible delivery down the leg side that ran away for a four as well.
In the 16th over, Rabada removed Sameer Rizvi for 21. CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad raced to his half-century in 44 balls with a cracking six, gathering 20 runs.
After getting slammed for six and four, Arshdeep Singh removed Gaikwad for 62. Chahar in the 19th over removed Moeen Ali for 15 runs.
Chennai crowd welcomed their favourite player MS Dhoni with a loud shout as the legendary wicketkeeper-batter came out and slammed a boundary off extra cover and hammered a six, taking CSK’s total to 162/7 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Chennai Super Kings 162/7 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 62, Ajinkya Rahane 29; Rahul Chahar 2-16) vs Punjab Kings. (ANI)