The ever-reliant Ravindra Jadeja sparkled with a crucial all-round performance (43 off 26 & 3/20) to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bounce back hard and beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 53 of the TATA IPL 2024 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.
A fighting knock from Jadeja (43 off 26) had propelled the visitors to 167/9 after they were reduced to 101/5 in the 13th over. Tushar Deshpande then came out roaring, castling Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over to set the tone before Jadeja took over to bowl an impressive spell of 3/20 and help CSK restrict PBKS to 139/9 and register a vital win.
Defending 168, CSK got off to a fantastic start courtesy of pacer Tushar Deshpande. PBKS were jolted early as Deshpande cleaned up Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over. CSK kept a tight leash for the next two overs before Shashank Singh and Impact Player Prabhsimran Singh released some pressure with a four and a six off Richard Gleeson in the fifth over, taking 15 off it. The duo continued the momentum in the next over, hitting a couple of fours and a six to take 16 off Deshpande and take PBKS to 47/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
The pair brought up the fifty-run stand as Shashank smacked one down the ground for four, off Santner, but he went for one shot too many and mistimed his loft off the next ball to long on to walk back on 27. PBKS completely lost their way from then on.
One brought two as Prabhsimran lofted one straight to long off, off Jadeja in the next over. Impact Player Simarjeet Singh announced his arrival this season in style, having Jitesh Sharma caught behind, in his first over.
Simarjeet could have had two in two overs but Moeen Ali dropped a simple chance at mid-wicket off a mistimed pull from Ashutosh Sharma. Santner thought didn’t make a mistake off the next ball as Curran mistimed his slap to long off, off Jadeja.
The CSK all-rounder made it two in the over as Ashutosh miscued his swing to short third man, to reduce PBKS to 78/7. Harshal, tried to get things moving with a six and a four off Simarjeet but the CSK pacer bounced back strongly to bounce out Harshal off the next ball, with Sameer Rizvi taking an excellent catch. Chahar, Brar and Rabada battled hard but it was always going to be a bridge too far as CSK cruised to a 28-run win.
Earlier, Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to field. Arshdeep Singh struck early as he had Ajinkya Rahane caught at mid-wicket in the second over. Rahane had started off the over with a glorious straight drive for four but four balls later, Arshdeep bowled an inswinger which swung in late and Rahane flicked it straight to mid-wicket. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell then stabilised proceedings and went about things in a measured way. Mitchell hit a four and six off Arshdeep and Gaikwad welcomed Harpreet Brar into the attack with a six and a couple of fours off the final over of the Powerplay to score 19 off it and take CSK to 60/1. The pair brought up the 50-run stand in 26 balls.
With the partnership growing stronger, Curran brought Rahul Chahar into the attack and he struck gold straightaway, dismissing Gaikwad (32 off 21) and Shivam Dube off consecutive balls to provide a significant moment in the match. Both the batters were caught behind, trying to cut them late.
Harshal Patel arrived into the attack and he too struck in his first over, trapping Mitchell (30 off 19) LBW. The batter reviewed it after being given out, but replays showed it was clipping leg, an umpire’s call.
PBKS maintained the stranglehold before Ravindra Jadeja hit two consecutive fours off Harshal in the 11th over and then Moeen Ali hit a couple of fours off Rabada in the next over to release the pressure valve for CSK. With another partnership developing, Curran brought himself into the attack and cut short the stand, bouncing out Moeen, caught at short fine leg, off a slower bouncer. The boundaries dried up once again, the pressure built and Chahar came back to dent CSK once again as he had Mitchell Santner, playing his first match of the season, caught at long on.
Shardul Thakur arrived at the crease and took the aggressive route straightaway, hitting a four off the first ball but he got lucky off the second as Shashank Singh dropped him at deep mid-wicket and parried it over the fence off the next ball. Thakur and Jadeja took on Chahar, taking him for 13 in the 18th over.
However, Harshal Patel bowled a fantastic penultimate over, cleaning up Thakur and MS Dhoni off consecutive balls via the splendid slower cutters, and giving away just two runs.
Jadeja then hit a couple of crucial blows, smacking a four and a six off Arshdeep before holing out to long on off the fourth ball for 43(26) as the visitors posted 167/9 from 20 overs. Jadeja’s knock was extremely crucial given the state of the game. Prabhsimran Singh walked out to open the batting as the Impact Player for PBKS, replacing, Arshdeep, while Simarjeet Singh was introduced as CSK’s Impact Player in place of Rahane at the start of the second innings.
