Chennai Super Kings' chances of qualifying for the playoffs have further decreased after losing their most recent game to Punjab Kings by 11 runs.
Batting first, the Mayank Agarwal-led side put up a total of 187 runs on the board. Shikhar Dhawan was the standout performer for the side with an unbeaten 88 off 59. Bhanuka Rajapaksa contributed with a knock of 42 runs. In the death overs, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone played small but quickfire knocks. Bairstow scored six runs at a strike rate of 200 while Livingstone hit 19 off 7 at a strike rate of over 271.
Dwaine Pretorius was Chennai's worst bowler - he conceded 50 runs in four overs without taking a wicket. Dwayne Bravo picked up two wickets but he too was expensive, having bowled his four overs at an economy of more than 10.
Chasing 188 to win, Chennai had the worst start possible. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 30 but at a strike rate of just 111. Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Santner and Shivam Dube scored in single digits as wickets kept falling in quick succession. But Ambati Rayudu played a fighting knock of 78 off 39 at a strike rate of 200, which brought little momentum back to CSK.
But when the required run rate kept increasing, captain Ravindra Jadeja wasted too many balls which eventually cost CSK the game. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 21 off 16.
For Punjab, Kagiso Rabada and Rishi Dhawan picked up two wickets each. Arshdeep Singh, meanwhile, was economical having conceded just 23 runs in his four overs.
With this win, Punjab have now moved up to the sixth place in the points table. With four wins in eight games, they still stand a good chance to make it to the playoffs. Chennai, on the other hand, are ninth in the table with two wins in eight games and will need to win all their remaining league games to stand a chance to make it to the knockouts.
Image credit: IPL
