The 53rd match of the IPL 2021 saw Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Dubai. The match proved to be kind of a one-sided affair thanks to PBKS captain KL Rahul, who helped his side win the match comfortably and end their IPL campaign on 12 points.
KL Rahul had won the toss and chose to bowl first. PBKS made one change, bringing in Chris Jordan for Nicholas Pooran, while CSK went in unchanged.
CSK innings never got going as PBKS bowlers used the short ball nicely in the powerplay getting rid of dangerous Ruturaj Gaikwad for 12 and Robin Uthappa for 2, while Moeen Ali made a duck. It was Faf du Plessis who held the innings together with 76 in 55 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.
He got some support from Ravindra Jadeja (15*) and MS Dhoni (12), as CSK managed a below-par 134/6. For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan took two wickets each.
In reply, CSK got early wickets of Mayank Agarwal (12), Sarfaraz Khan (0), and Shahrukh Khan (8). But captain KL Rahul bludgeoned his way through as CSK didn’t have an answer to his assault. KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 98 in 42 balls with 7 fours and 8 huge sixes to his name. Shardul Thakur took 3/28 for CSK.
PBKS reached the target in 13 overs with 6 wickets to spare and ended their IPL 2021 campaign with 12 points.
The cricket fraternity was in awe of KL Rahul’s dominating performance and lauded him on Twitter.
Here are the tweets:
