Mumbai: A solid partnership between Faf du Plessis (31-ball 34) and Moeen Ali (31-ball 46) following a magical career-best bowling spell from Deepak Chahar (4/13) helped Chennai Super Kings beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets to secure their first-ever win in IPL 2021.
Deepak Chahar’s four-wicket haul restricted Punjab Kings to 106/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Chahar was so good with the ball today as he did the maximum damage right from the very start of Punjab’s innings. Six PBKS batsmen were back in the dressing room in just 12.1 overs.
Chasing the target of 107 runs, CSK’s first wicket fell in form of Rituraj Gaikwad, who was dismissed for just 5 runs. But, after this, a 66-run partnership between Moin Ali and Faf du Plessis for the second wicket pulled CSK back into the game. When Moeen got out, the team’s score reached 90 runs and victory was just 17 runs away.
After Moeen’s departure, Suresh Raina was the next man to the crease but was soon dismissed my Mohammed Shami for 8 runs in 9 balls. After taking the wicket of Raina, Shami sent Ambati Rayudu back to the dugout on the very next ball. Everyone felt that Dhoni will come to the crease next but instead of coming himself, he sent young Sam Curran to support Faf Du Plessis in the middle.
When Sam Curran came in the middle, CSK needed only 8 runs to win. Curran played a beautiful stroke to power his team to a great win before 4.2 overs after hitting the fourth ball of Meredith in the 16th over.
