Defending champions Chennai Super Kings’ nightmarish start to this season of the Indian Premier League continued as the Punjab Kings were back to winning ways, taking home the contest by a massive margin of 54 runs. Liam Livingstone was outstanding with both bat and ball, as his all-round effort sealed a clinical win for PBKS, who are looking to make a strong case for their maiden title this time around, with two wins in their first three games.
Punjab’s batting order, which had failed them in their previous game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, delivered a commendable performance on Sunday, with a competitive score, which the bowlers were able to defend quite easily, thanks to some tame batting from the Super Kings.
Chennai skipper Ravindra Jadeja won the toss and decided to bowl, a decision that has become the norm in this year’s IPL. The Super Kings got off to a great start, with captain Mayank Agarwal throwing away his wicket off the very second ball of the innings. The in-form Bhanuka Rajapaksa also could not do much against the Yellow Army, after some poor communication between the wickets left the Sri Lankan stranded midway.
Veteran Shikhar Dhawan and the explosive Livingstone rebuilt the Punjab innings with a very well-constructed partnership and unsurprisingly took on the role of the aggressor as he launched into the Chennai bowling attack. Dhawan also did his fair share at the other end while the Lancashire all-rounder unleashed his fury upon the weak-looking Chennai bowling lineup.
The duo added 95 for the second wicket in no time, as the Punjab Kings’ score breached the three-figure mark in the tenth over itself, giving Punjab a suitable platform to forge ahead. Dhawan finally departed off the last ball of the tenth over for a well-made 33, but the bigger wicket fell just a few balls later, as Livingstone tried one big hit too many, ending his innings on 60 in just 32 deliveries. Livingstone struck five boundaries and five sixes in his entertaining knock as he built a solid base for the rest of the attack to fire.
However, Punjab did not live up to the expectations, with the rest of the batsmen having an off day, except Jitesh Sharma, who played a 17-ball 26, taking Punjab’s score to a competitive 180/6 at the 20-over mark.
With 181 to defend, Punjab would have expected some initial challenges at least, with the veteran Robin Uthappa in excellent form, and the supremely talented Ruturaj Gaikwad waiting to fire after a couple of low scores. Nevertheless, the Punjab bowling lineup did very well in the beginning to induce a collapse in the CSK batting lineup. Gaikwad’s poor run continued as the right-hander departed for just one run, while Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu got out after getting identical scores, but in vastly different ways.
Moeen Ali and Jadeja did not trouble the scorers as Chennai were in deep trouble at 36/5. Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni tried to get Chennai back to winning ways, as Dube played the big shots while Dhoni held fort at the other end.
Dube got to a good half-century, but the climbing run rate got to him, as he fell for 57 off Livingstone, who seemed to possess the Midas touch. He made it two in two as he got rid of the dangerous Dwayne Bravo off the very next ball with a superb diving catch.
MS Dhoni tried to hit some boundaries after taking the game deep, but an ill-advised attempt to chase a wide ball down the leg side spelt the end for the former Indian captain, and shortly after, the Chennai innings, as they folded for 126, giving Punjab a well-deserved victory.
Brief scores
Punjab Kings 180 for 8 (Livingstone 60, Dhawan 33, Jordan 2-23) beat Chennai Super Kings 126 (Dube 57, Chahar 3-25, Livingstone 2-25) by 54 runs
