An exhibition of power-hitting performances by our batters helped us register a nail-biting, four-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in our tenth TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter in Chennai on Sunday, April 30. 

Having chased down a mammoth target of 201, our boys pulled off the highest-ever run-chase by an away team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Thala Wins Toss:

CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and put us to bowl first. We made just one change as Harpreet Brar joined our playing XI instead of Gurnoor Singh Brar.

A Challenging Start:

Our bowlers were off to a difficult start as the CSK openers, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway, scored 57 runs in the first six overs.

Sikandar Raza Bamboozles Gaikwad:

Our accomplished all-rounder, Sikandar Raza, provided us with a much-needed breakthrough. He deceived Ruturaj Gaikwad in the tenth over.

Arshdeep Singh Tops The Charts:

The hosts continued their flying start courtesy of Shivam Dube and Conway. Our premier pacer, Arshdeep Singh, brought us back into the game as he broke their 44-run stand by dismissing Dube for 28. 

Arshdeep, momentarily, became the new Purple Cap holder.

Bowlers Launch Fightback:

In the final few overs, our bowlers showed resilience against the big hitters of CSK. Leg-spinner, Rahul Chahar, bagged the wicket of Moeen Ali in the 17th over.

Our star all-rounder Sam Curran also joined the party as he scalped the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja to reduce CSK to 185/4.

Batting at number six, Dhoni clobbered two sixes in the final two balls to help CSK post 200/4 in their allotted overs.

For the hosts, Devon Conway was their standout batter. He was unbeaten on 92 off 52 balls.

Early Blitzkrieg:

To pull off the chase, we introduced Prabhsimran Singh as our impact player in place of Kagiso Rabada. He opened our innings with skipper Dhawan. 

Our openers slammed the CSK bowlers to all parts of the ground to provide us with a scintillating start. In the process, Dhawan became the second batter to score more than 6,500 runs in TATA IPL.

Dhawan and Prabhsimran notched up our fifty in 4.1 overs before our skipper departed for a 15-ball 28.

From the other end, Prabhsimran continued to hit eye-catching shots which put pressure on the CSK bowlers.

However, we soon succumbed to a massive blow as Prabhsimran fell to Jadeja in the ninth over. His innings included four boundaries and two maximums. Soon after, we lost Atharva Taide too. He was caught and bowled by Jadeja.

Livingstone and Curran’s Resurrection:

We were in desperate need of a partnership. Curran and Livingstone built our hope. The duo stitched a 57-run stand for the fourth wicket to keep us in the hunt.

In the 16th over, Livingstone smacked Tushar Deshpande for three sixes and a four before he perished on the penultimate ball of the over for 40 off 24 balls. Livingstone lived up to his credentials as a game-changer.

With 50 needed off 25 balls, Jitesh Sharma emphatically started his innings by smashing Jadeja for a 101-metre six.

Unfortunately, Curran was cleaned up by Matheesha Pathirana.

On the other end, Jitesh scored 21 runs off just 10 balls before he was dismissed by Deshpande in the penultimate over.

Last Over Thriller:

With Shahrukh Khan and Raza at the crease, we needed nine runs in the final over. Dhoni gave the final over to Pathirana.

The Sri Lankan pacer conceded just two runs in the first three balls as we still required seven runs off three balls.

In the next two balls, Raza completed two doubles, with the equation coming down to three runs needed off the final delivery.

We were on the edge of our seats. With stationed postures and crossed fingers, we kept praying for one more boundary to clinch the thriller.

Our hearts raced as Pathirana started his run-up. Raza fixed his eyes on the ball. He pushed the ball over backward square leg but before the fielder could revert, Raza and Shahrukh sprinted to complete three runs! Our boys sealed a memorable win at Chepauk!

The atmosphere was surreal. We were extremely close to a super over but our boys rewrote history by chasing the highest score so far against Chennai at their home den. 

Having registered our fifth win, we have jumped to fifth place in the TATA IPL 2023 standings with 10 points from nine matches.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 200/4 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 92*, Ruturaj Gaikwad 37; Rahul Chahar 1/35) lost to Punjab Kings 201/6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 42, Liam Livingstone 40; Tushar Deshpande 3/49) by four wickets.

Player of the Match: Devon Conway.