Punjab Kings moved to the top half of the IPL standings in a manner fitting their position, defeating MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings' at their home ground, in a last ball finish on Sunday evening.
After Chennai elected to bat first, Devon Conway's sublime innings of an unbeaten 92 off 52, Ruturaj Gaikwad's 37 off 31 and MS Dhoni's consecutive sixes off the last two balls helped the home team post 200/4.
In reply, Punjab opener Prabhsimran Singh contributed a handy 42 off 24, Liam Livingstone made 40 off 24 but Sikandar Raza stole the show by taking three runs off the final delivery to take Punjab Kings (PBKS) to a four-wicket win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Chennai: Punjab Kings players Sikandar Raza, Kagiso Rabada and Shikhar Dhawan celebrate after winning the IPL 2023 match against Chennai Super Kings.
(Photo: BCCI)
Batting first, CSK got off to a good start as the opening combination of Gaikwad and Conway raised 57/0 in the Power-play with their fine shot selections. After a couple of quiet overs, the duo brisked up the pace of the innings with timely hits.
When PBKS were in desperate need of a wicket, Sikander Raza provided a much-needed breakthrough as he dismissed Gaikwad for 37 in the 10 over, ending an 86-run opening partnership and CSK were 90/1 halfway through the innings.
Soon Conway completed his 5th fifty of the season off 31 balls with a boundary through a reverse sweep. Then, Dube smashed Kagiso Rabada for a maximum on a shot ball.
When the duo was taking the bowlers to cleaners, Arshdeep Singh brought Dube's quick-fire cameo to an end in the 14th over, trapping him in the slower ball. Dube looked to loft it but got the toe end of the bat. It went up in the air toward long on where Shahrukh Khan settled near the ropes and took a fine catch.
Conway started the 15th over with a fine boundary over extra cover off the bowling of Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali too joined the party as he wasted no time and hammered his first ball to the boundary and Conway ended over with a four.
Then Moeen smashed Sam Curran's slower ball over extra-cover for four before Rahul Chahar got him in the 17th over. But Conway was on his merry ways as he finished the over with two back-to-back boundaries.
In the last over, Curran dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and there was a huge roar as M.S. Dhoni came on to bat. The next ball Conway pulled it without much timing and hit it flat over mid-wicket. Livingstone came racing in from deep mid-wicket and slid in to take the catch but was unsure and the umpires go upstairs to check.
The third umpire checked a lot of replays before concluding that there is no substantial evidence of the fingers being under the ball. Not Out came up on the big screen, it was a single and Dhoni got the strike.
Then, the skipper finished it up in his vintage style with back-to-back sixes on the last two balls of the innings.
In reply, PBKS started in fine fashion with skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran going after the pacers and the pair added on 50 runs before Dhawan got out and King posted 62/1 at the end of the Power-play.
Punjab then lost a couple of wickets in quick succession before Liam Livingstone teed off. Afterwards, Sam Curran and Jitesh Sharma took the game deep before Sikandar Raza somehow managed to get the win off the final delivery, that too without hitting a boundary in the final over.
Chasing a 201-run target, Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh got PBKS off to a flier before Tushar Deshpande struck in the fourth over to get rid of the skipper for 28.
When Prabhsimran was looking dangerous with his calculated hits and was close to his fifty, Ravindra Jadeja removed the set batter in the ninth over. Prabhsimran stepped out to go big but missed as the ball turned away and landed in Dhoni's gloves, who cheekily waited for a moment before flicking the bails off.
An over later, Jadeja picked up his second wicket, removing Atharva Taide. The latter stepped down the track and looked to flat-bat it back past the bowler but mistimed the shot and ended up hitting it right back at Jadeja, who took it around his chest.
With 13 runs per over needed to win, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran held the fort and kept the scoreboard ticking to keep Punjab in the game. In the 16th over, Livingstone hammered Deshpande for two consecutive sixes, followed by a boundary and another maximum but the bowler was quick to bounce back as he removed Livingstone on the last ball of the over.
Then, Jitesh Sharma and Curran went for a six apiece and collected 17 runs in the over and bringing the equation to 31 off 18. But Matheesha Pathirana had other plans as he struck on the first ball of the 18th over to dismiss Curran, who looked to back away and drive but was beaten by the pace as the ball crashed into the stumps.
With 22 needed off 12 balls, Jitesh started the over with a boundary and followed that up with a double. A wide ball later, Deshpande deceived him with a slower ball.
Sharma tried to slog it away but found the toe end of the bat and skied it really high toward long on. The substitute fielder, Shaik Rasheed ran back and settled under it well to grab it. Unfortunately, Rasheed slipped and his foot seemed to have just brushed the boundary cushion. The third umpire checked it thoroughly and found out that the foot didn't touch the rope and the batter headed back to the pavilion.
With PBKS needing 9 runs off the final over, six came off the first five balls and Sikander Raza pulled it over backwards square leg and collected crucial three runs off the last ball to ensure victory for his side.
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