IPL PIX: Punjab whip CSK but fail to make last four

Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings, in Dubai, on Thursday.

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K L Rahul led from the front with a blistering knock as Punjab Kings trounced Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the Indian Premier League match, in Dubai on Thursday, and kept their play-off hopes alive.

The skipper clobbered 7 fours and 8 sixes in his blazing knock as Punjab Kings chased down the target of 135 in just 13 overs.

Despite the easy victory, Punjab's Net Run Rate did not go past that of fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders.

Both teams were on 12 points prior to Kolkata Knight Riders' game against Rajasthan Royals later on Thursday in Sharjah. The Knight Riders went on to easily defeat the Royals by 86 runs and boost their play-offs hopes.

KKR, with 14 points and a net run-rate of plus 0.587, are all but through, unless Mumbai Indians (12 points and a net run-rate of minus 0.048) win their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday by a big margin.

For Mumbai Indians to go through, they will have to bat first, score 200-plus and win by a margin of 170-plus runs.

Rahul’s approach had come in for criticism in the last few weeks because he often dragged the game deep. However, on Thursday, he seemed to have saved his best for last as he displayed top-class batting to singlehandedly take Punjab Kings over the line.

He hit boundaries and sixes at will even as the other batters failed to come up with any meaningful contributions. Anything on his feet was whipped between fine leg and mid-wicket with utter disdain.

Only two other batters got to double figures as Shardul Thakur picked three wickets for 28 runs in three overs to emerge the Super Kings' most successful bowler.

Deepak Chahar (1 for 48 from four overs), Josh Hazlewood (0 for 22 in three) and Dwayne Bravo (0 for 32 in two) were clueless in the face of Rahul's onslaught.

Opener Rahul and Mayank Agarwal (12) put on 46 in just 4.3 overs before the former dominated another partnership with Shahrukh Khan (8) for the third wicket, adding 34 runs in four overs.

Earlier, Faf du Plessis scored a blistering 76 off 55 balls at the top of the order but Punjab Kings did well to restrict Chennai Super Kings to 134 for 6.

The former champions were in the dumps as 42 for 4 in the ninth over but the fighting half-century from veteran South African propped them before Ravindra Jadeja and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni scores some vital runs, as 26 came in the last two overs.

Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi impressed in his spell of 4-0-25-1, which included the scalp of Dhoni, while pacers Arshdeep Singh (2 for 35) and Chris Jordan (2 for 20) did a good job for Punjab.

Du Plessis waged a lone battle, ensuring that the Punjab bowlers did not run away with the game. He hit two boundaries off Jordan's third over, the 18th, as the Super Kings went all out to put up a respectable total.

Du Plessis hit two more sixes, one off Arshdeep and Mohammad Shami in the final over to give the innings a much-needed boost.

Ravindra Jadeja was unbeaten on 15 off 17 balls, which included a four.

That only 30 runs came in the powerplay indicated the CSK batters' difficulty in getting Shami & Co away. Coupled with the regular loss of wickets, the three-time champions crawled to 50 in the 10th over.

Shami, in particular, was hard to get away. His first spell of three was brilliant, as he conceded only six runs.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep continued to impress and got the wickets of the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad (12, 14 balls, 1 four) and Moeen Ali (0).

Gaikwad hit a four before he top-edged an attempted pull off Arshdeep to give Shahrukh Khan, on the leg-side, an easy catch.

Moeen, who was in good nick in the first phase of the tournament in India, failed to trouble the scorers, edging one to Rahul to give Arshdeep his second scalp.

Robin Uthappa, who replaced Suresh Raina in the playing eleven, failed to make an impression, falling for just 2. His attempted pull off Jordan saw Harpreet Brar take a very good catch at deep-square leg.

Dhoni, who has struggled for form, scored 12 before a drive away from his body off Bishnoi's googly took the inside edge and rolled on to the stumps to compound CSK's problems.

• IPL 2021