Images from the IPL 2024 match between Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Ravindra Jadeja orchestrated a masterclass all-round show as Chennai Super Kings regained their winning touch with a comprehensive 28-run win over Punjab Kings in a low-scoring IPL fixture in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Wily leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (3/23) and seamer Harshal Patel (3/24) put up a spirited show but Jadeja made a crucial 43 that came off just 26 balls to prop CSK to a par 167/9 after they were sent in to bat by Sam Curran.
The left-arm spinner then returned to grab three for 20 in four overs in the crucial middle-over phase to derail PBKS' chase, which ended at 139 for nine.
Comeback pacer Tushar Deshpande (2/35) and impact sub Simarjeet Singh (2/16) also featured among wickets.
Mitchell Santner, who was playing his first match of the season, was brilliant during his tidy 1/10 from three overs.
Eyeing a sixth successive win over CSK in the IPL, PBKS found themselves at 78 for seven against Jadeja's match-turning spell.
Having lost three of their last four matches, the five-time champions CSK thus returned to winning ways and jumped to third place in the standings.
CSK now have 12 points with three more matches left to secure their playoff spot.
PBKS – eight points from 11 matches – slumped to eighth spot after enduring their seventh loss of the season.
Kiwi left-arm spinner Santner set it up early for CSK. Bowling with the new ball, he gave away just four runs from his two overs and took the key wicket of Shashank Singh (27; 20b, 4x4) against the run of play.
Deshpande inflicted a twin blow, cleaning up Jonny Bairstow (7) and Rilee Rossouw (0) in three balls.
PBKS found some rhythm going as Prabhsimran Singh and the in-form Shashank took the attack to CSK bowlers and collected 31 runs to end the power play on a high.
Prabhsimran smashed Richard Gleeson for one four and a six in a 15-run over, while Prabhsimran took on Deshpande, smacking him for two fours and one six.
It seemed a one-way traffic for the home side before Santner cleverly varied his pace as Shashank holed out to long-on.
Cruising in top gear at 62/2, PBKS went on to lose half of their side in 9.4 overs.
It brought an end to a rollicking 53-run partnership from 36 balls between Shashank and Prabhsimran.
Jadeja soon opened his account dismissing Prabhsimran.
Prabhsimran was looking at ease but the opener was enticed by Jadeja's full ball at the stump.
The right-hander looked to go inside out but lack of pace meant he could not clear the long-off where substitute fielder Sameer Rizvi took an easy catch.
Simarjeet chipped in with a wicket in his first over, dismissing Jitesh Sharma for a first-ball duck.
Jadeja gave away just three runs in his next over, and completed a decisive spell ousting Curran (7) and the in-form Ashutosh Sharma (3) in the 13th over.
As runs dried up, Curran started to feel the heat and took on Jadeja's widish delivery but he slapped it straight to Santner at long-off.
Ashutosh then perished after mistiming his big hoick to be caught by Simarjeet at third-man to give Jadeja a three-for.
Earlier, Rahul Chahar's spin wizardry was complemented well by pacer Harshal Patel's superb variations in the death as Punjab Kings produced a spirited bowling effort to restrict CSK to 167/9.
Having recovered to 60/1 in the Powerplay, CSK were going great guns with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) in the middle during an entertaining 57-run partnership before Chahar (3/23) triggered a collapse taking two successive wickets off his first two balls of the match.
CSK stumbled as they went on to lose three wickets in 11 balls with Harshal taking the prized-scalp of Mitchell, who was unlucky to be ruled out leg before wicket and the DRS review stayed with the umpire's call with the ball tracker showing it was clipping the leg stump.
Veteran Harshal returned at the death to dismiss Shardul Thakur (17) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a golden duck as CSK's hopes for a revival went up in smoke.
First, he cleaned up Thakur with a slower off-cutter as the CSK fans in Dharamsala waited for yet another piece of Dhoni magic with eight balls to go.
But the Yellow Army were left stunned as the talismanic Dhoni departed off the very first ball, unable to pick Harshal's impeccably executed slow yorker and was bowled for a duck.
Put into bat, CSK lost an early wicket as veteran Ajinkya Rahane continued his wretched form with the bat to be dismissed for nine from seven balls with Arshdeep Singh striking in his first over.
Rahane lost his balance trying to flick a delivery off his pads to midwicket where Kagiso Rabada took a low catch.
But Mitchell looked in complete control, returning to the same venue seven months after the New Zealander smashed a 127-ball 130 against India in the ODI World Cup.
He stepped on the gas in Arshdeep's second over, pulling him for a midwicket boundary for a four and then lofted him over mid-off for a six.
From being 10 off 11 balls, Ruturaj took the attack to PBKS' most economical bowler Harpreet Brar, smashing him for one six and two fours in a row as they ended up taking 19 runs off the last over of the Powerplay.
Chahar turned it around for PBKS after the timeout, dismissing Ruturaj and Shivam Dube off successive deliveries.
Having just picked up pace, the CSK skipper swung at a wide delivery but the big edge was caught splendidly by Jitesh Sharma behind the stumps.
Dube's run of golden ducks stretched to two matches after being picked for the upcoming T20 World Cup when the big-hitting all-rounder was done in by a Chahar googly, to be caught behind by Jitesh.
But a shocker followed to end Mitchell's stay. The Kiwi fell victim to a contentious umpire's call even as the ball looked to be going down the leg side. But the ball tracker showed that the ball was clipping the leg-stump, with the decision staying with on-field umpire's call.
Thereafter, CSK could not get a partnership going as Punjab bowlers kept chipping away at the wicket at regular intervals. Jadeja came to CSK's rescue with a timely knock of 43 from 26 balls which helped the defending champions get past the 150-run mark.
He put on small but impactful partnerships to revive CSK -- 26 for the fifth wicket with Moeen Ali (17), 21 for the sixth wicket with Mitchell Santner (11) and 28 for the seventh wicket with Shardul Thakur, who stroked 17 from 11 balls.
Chahar was Punjab's best bowler with figures of 3/23, while Harshal bagged 3/24 and Arshdeep took 2/42.
