PBKS skipper broke free from a self-imposed bubble and switched on the aggressor’s mode to play a scintillating knock of unbeaten 98 off just 42 balls in his team’s win over CSK in their last league stage encounter of the IPL 2021.
Needing to chase down 135 in Dubai on Thursday versus their top-table rivals, PBKS had their skipper leading the way from the front. KL Rahul dominated his way through; shedding his usual anchoring self with the aim to try and boost PBKS’ NRR as much as possible.
The elegant right-hander struck seven fours and eight sixes and nearly made another Indian Premier League hundred despite his team chasing just over 130 runs on the day.
After the defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last game, Rahul had indicated he isn’t the most comfortable cutting down risks to the extremes like he has in order to bat deep into the innings.
Rahul also clarified that he has chosen to walk the safe route since being elevated to the captaincy post because of his team’s inexperienced middle-order and the need for him to cover up for their flaws.
Here as well, it wasn’t that Rahul was trying to prove a point to naysayers for some heavy criticism of his strike-rate. The batter was doing exactly what his team required: close the game as early as possible and have at least some hope of securing the fourth spot on NRR, depending on other results in the league.
But still, it would’ve been reassuring for the fans and Rahul himself that on a day he wanted to take down the opposition from the very beginning, he nailed each of his strokes to perception.
It augurs well ahead of the T20 World Cup, where India will need him, at times, to play the aggressor batting in a top-order featuring two great anchors in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Coming back to the PBKS, while Rahul nailed his intent and execution on the day, it was still not enough to propel them to the playoffs. Even though PBKS clinched their sixth win, they needed Rajasthan Royals to keep Kolkata Knight Riders down to six wins only in the night. However, with RR suffering an embarrassing defeat in Sharjah, PBKS’ hopes of a fourth-place finish were all dashed.
But Rahul’s last act of the season was much to savour. In the second half, it reflected his class and dominance that the next highest individual score for PBKS was only 13 from Aiden Markram.
Pacer Shardul Thakur picked up three wickets for 28 off his four overs but overall, the CSK attack had next to no answers to stop Rahul once he started blazing his strokes to all parts. With that in mind, Josh Hazlewood’s spell of 0/22 from three overs looks very impressive.
PBKS set the game up for themselves in the first half where their bowlers, particularly the seamers, seem to have caught the CSK batters off guard on a Dubai surface with a slight covering of grass and a hint of seam movement.
Mohammed Shami (1/22), Chris Jordan (2/20), Arshdeep Singh (2/35) shared five wickets between them. Their bowling inside the powerplay laid the foundation for a PBKS’ win as CSK never recovered from their early blows. In an all-round display, spinners Harpreet Brar (0/22) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/25) closed out any possible openings during the middle-overs.
Opening batter Faf du Plessis (76 off 55) played the lone ranger for CSK with the bat. The South African legend’s fighting half-century took the Super Kings past the 130-mark with six wickets down when they could’ve easily been bowled out for 110-120.
Brief scores
Chennai Super Kings 134/6 (Faf du Plessis 76, Jadeja 15*; Jordan 2/20, Shami 1/22) lost to Punjab Kings 139/4 (KL Rahul 98*, Markram 13; Thakur 3/28, Chahar 1/48) by six wickets
