Picture : Twitter / IPL
After losing their first match to Delhi capitals, Chennai Super Kings bounced in style in their second match and thrashed Punjab Kings by six wickets . It was the first match in this year that did not go down to the wire. It was a crushing win for CSK over the Punjab Kings
CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing his 200th IPL match for the franchise , won the toss and asked Punjab to bat first. And this time his bowlers were on target straight away and blew away Punjab. Well supported too by superb fielding Ravindra Jadeja showing the way.
CSK bowlers gave nothing away and rocked Punjab with wickets regularly . The scores of Panjab batsmen said it all – Skipper K L Rahul run-out 5, Mayank Agarwal ( 0), Universe Boss Chris Gayle ( 10) , Deepak Hooda ( 10), Nocholas Pooran ( 2), it was only Shahrukh Khan 47 off 36 balls who showed some grit in the middle as the batting flopped and could manage only 106/8 in their 20 overs .
CSK seamer Deepak Chahar who was the wrecker in chief with splendid figures 4/13 ( 4 overs) , Sam Curran 1/12 ( 3 overs), Mooen Ali 1/17 ( 3 overs), Ravindra Jadeja 0/19 ( 4 overs), Shardul Thakur 0/35 ( 4 overs), Dwayne Bravo 1/10 ( 2 overs)
Chasing a small target was no problem from CSK. Rituraj Gaekwad struggled for his 15 ball 6. But Faf Du Plessis was the anchor with an unbeaten 36 off 33 balls. Moeen Ali relished playing in number 3 and played cracking drives during his entertaining stay . He top scored with 31 ball 47 with 7 fours . Though the CSK lost quick wickets of Suresh Raina ( 8), Ambati Rayadu ( 0) the target was simply too small to cause panic. CSK romped home in 15.4 overs with Sam Curran hitting the winning boundary and remaining unbeaten on 5 . CSK finishing at 107/ 4 with 26 balls left. It was a clinical show from MSD’s men. Punjab will have to show some character to recover from this crushing loss ahead.
