Dharamsala: Punjab Kings (PBKS) bowlers Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar showcased their prowess by each claiming a three-wicket haul. Their remarkable performance played a crucial role in restricting the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a total of 167/9 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
CSK’s opening duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Ruturaj Gaikwad faltered in their partnership against PBKS, with Arshdeep Singh claiming Rahane’s wicket early on. However, Daryl Mitchell and Gaikwad managed a 57-run stand before Rahul Chahar dismissed Gaikwad in the eighth over.
Despite some resistance from Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali, CSK struggled to form substantial partnerships. Chahar and Harshal Patel starred for PBKS, with Chahar claiming three wickets and Patel picking up two crucial dismissals in the 19th over, including that of MS Dhoni for a golden duck.
Jadeja emerged as CSK’s top scorer with a brisk 43, but PBKS bowlers maintained pressure, limiting CSK to 167/9. Chahar and Patel’s impressive spells, along with contributions from Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran, guided PBKS to a dominant bowling display in the first innings.
PBKS skipper Sam Curran won the toss and elected to bowl first against Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings. After winning the toss PBKS captain Sam Curran said, “We’re going to bowl. Day game, try and see how it plays and chase it down. We’ve got the same team. We’ve had two really good wins with the same team. Conditions should be fairly even throughout, it’s about batting, bowling and fielding well.”
CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad at the toss said, “We’ve just stuck to our process and doing little things right. We don’t look at the track record of the opposition, we focus on ourselves and see what we can do right. This season there have been a lot of injuries, flus and forced changes so we’ve had to tinker with our team. I’d say losing 10 tosses but winning 5 games is a positive. Santner comes in place of Fizz.”
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Sam Curran(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Richard Gleeson, Tushar Deshpande
