IPL: PBKS stun CSK by four wickets in last ball thriller
Chennai, Apr 30: Punjab Kings sealed a stunning four-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings with Sikandar Raza holding his nerve to knock off the required three runs off the final ball in a tense Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Chasing 201 for a win, Punjab needed nine runs from the final over bowled by Matheesha Pathirana who conceded just two from the first three deliveries. But Raza remained calm under immense pressure, scoring two runs each from the next two deliveries.
Raza (13 not out) sent the final ball towards the boundary but Maheesh Theekshana stopped it just before the ropes in a brilliant fielding effort but by that time the PBKS batters had completed three runs to the stunned silence of the home crowd at Chepauk.
Punjab finished at 201 for 6 as Prabhsimran Singh (42), Liam Livingstone (40), Sam Curran (29) and Jitesh Sharma (21) playing crucial roles as CSK opener Devon Conway's brilliant knock of 92 not out went in vain.
Punjab batters did well to pull off a win after victory looked difficult in the middle overs before Livingstone and Curran turned things around. The 24 runs conceded by Tushar Deshpande in the 16th over proved crucial in the final analysis.
With 22 runs needed from 12 balls, Jitesh Sharma (21 off 10 balls) hit the first ball for a four and got two off the next. He fell off the fourth ball, caught by substitute Shaik Rasheed in the deep. The third umpire ruled the batter out after the fielder caught the ball and tripped back close to the boundary rope.
Deshpande finished with 3 for 49 from his four overs while Ravindra Jadeja took 2 for 32 in his quota of four overs.
Punjab batters began the run chase with a rapid stand between captain Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Prabhsimran Singh before the former fell to Deshpande. The openers brought up the 50 in the powerplay. Dhawan's attempt to cut over the in-field saw him find Matheesha Pathirana off the top-edge.
Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide (13) added 44 runs in quick time before the latter became Jadeja's first victim. Prabhsimran jumped out of the crease and saw the ball turn slightly, beating him for Dhoni to complete an easy stumping.
Taide was the next to go, caught and bowled by Jadeja for 13 as Punjab slipped to 94 for 3 in the 11th over.
Things seemed to slip away from PBKS as the batters could not find the big over and required run-rate kept climbing. But Raza and M Shahrukh Khan (2 not out) scored 15 runs from eight balls to see PBKS cross the target.
Earlier, CSK rode on Conway's superb unbeaten 92 to post 200 for 4. Dhoni sent the home crowd into raptures with two sixes from the last two deliveries.
The talismanic Dhoni walked in at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja (12) to a massive roar from the crowd. He could not connect the first ball he faced from Sam Curran (4-0-46-1) and picked up a single from the next delivery, thumping one down the ground.
One delivery later, Dhoni hit a six from a wide delivery and then smacked a full toss for a maximum to finish on 13 not out as CSK finished the innings in style.
Opting to bat first, Conway, who struck 16 fours and a six during his 52-ball unbeaten knock, and his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad (37) added 86 for the first wicket to put the home team on the road to a good total.
For Punjab, Curran, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh and Sikandar Raza took one wicket apiece.
Conway and Gaikwad continued their impressive form with the bat as they got the team off to yet another strong start, raising 50 runs in the sixth over.
Conway hit two boundaries off Kagiso Rabada's first over to set the tone and continued to bat fluently. He hit two consecutive fours in the sixth over bowled by Curran as CSK gradually stepped up the pace. The powerplay yielded 57 runs as the Punjab Kings bowlers struggled to make an impression.
Gaikwad fell against the run of play, jumping out to a Sikander Raza delivery to be stumped by Jitesh Sharma for 37.
The big-hitting Shivam Dube was pushed up the order and he hit two big sixes, including one off Rabada. He helped add 44 runs in 26 balls with Conway to enable the Super Kings up the ante.
Dube looked good for more when he fell while going for a big hit only to be caught by Shahrukh Khan in the deep for a 17-ball 28.
Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings: 200 for 4 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 92 not out; Rahul Chahar 1/35).
Punjab Kings: 201 for 6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 42, Liam Livingstone 40; Tushar Deshpande 3/49).
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Skipper Curran, bowlers lead PBKS to a five-wicket win over RR
Guwahati, May 15: Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act hitting a well-paced fifty and taking two wickets, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track here but Curran (63 not out, 41b, 5x4, 3x6) had a calm head and skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.
The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22, 20b) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth wicket partnership.
For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot, but they remained second on the table with 16 points with a qualification to the playoffs to boot with.
The Kings’ chase began on a shaky note as they lost Prabhsimran Singh in the first over itself to Trent Boult.
But bigger jolts were in store as an impressive Avesh Khan (2/28) scalped two wickets in the fifth over.
The right-arm pacer first plucked the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw, who played some strong shots in his 13-ball 22, and then jettisoned in-form Shashank Singh for a two-ball naught.
Shashank failed to connect a fuller, straighter one from Avesh while attempting a flick, and the 141 kmph delivery thudded on his bat. Shashank did not even bother to use DRS as he walked away.
Punjab gained some ground through the alliance between Curran and Jitesh, who smoked R Ashwin for two sixes.
Curran too gave a dose of punishment to the veteran offie, lofting him for a wonderful six over extra cover.
But the blossoming stand was snapped by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/31), leaving PBKS at 111 for five in the 16th over.
However, Curran and Ashutosh Sharma (17 not out, 11 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without further drama.
Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine.
R Ashwin (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Parag (48, 34, 6x4) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in a temporary momentum for RR.
In fact, lethargy had set in very early in the Rajasthan innings after the early loss of Jaiswal, who chopped a Curran (2/24) delivery back on to his stumps.
Sanju Samson (18), who went past 500-run in a season for the first time in his IPL career, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (18, 23b) stitched 36 runs for the second wicket but took six overs for it.
But with Curran and Arshdeep finding a hint of swing and maintaining a good line, scoring was not an easy proposition for the RR batters.
Eventually, Samson, who tried a hopping cut off pacer Nathan Ellis, gave a simple catch to Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
Cadmore too returned to the dugout in the next over, as his almighty heave off leg-spinner Chahar (2/26) could not progress beyond Jitesh in the deep.
Those twin dismissals actually paved the way for the best phase in the Royals’ innings as Ashwin and Parag pressed their foot on the right pedal.
Ashwin displayed his batting skills, smashing Chahar for 17 runs in the 12th over that included a sequence of 6, 4, 4 and the first four was a stunning reverse scoop over backward point.
But he could not further extend his innings, lofting Arshdeep to Shashank.
Parag, usually a free-flowing batter, had to curb his flair in front of a hugely adoring home crowd because of the regular fall of wickets at the other end.
But a late cut off Curran that sped to third man stood as a testament of his ability and timing as he also moved past the 500-run mark for the season, before getting trapped in front of the wicket by Harshal Patel.
However, apart from conquering those little peaks the RR batters failed to slip into the top gear consistently.
