RAHUL Chahar and Harpreet Brar claimed four wickets between them without conceding a single boundary as Punjab Kings won a fifth straight game against the Chennai Super Kings.
The victory was orchestrated by the two spinners, who helped keep the hosts down to 162/7 – a total that proved easy to chase under extremely dewy conditions.

The win ensured that PBKS, despite a slow start to the season, stayed within touching distance of playoffs position. CSK’s second home loss meant they haven’t been able to fortify their own position in the top-four.
Having lost the toss for a ninth time in 10 games, CSK went through a PowerPlay with two distinct phases to it.

The first four overs brought just 23 runs as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane tried to come to terms with the red-soil wicket that offered substantial bounce as well as some seam movement, especially for Kagiso Rabada.
Harpreet Brar [2-17] and Rahul Chahar [2-16] led a sensational choke in the middle overs as CSK found no boundaries off the bat in the nine overs of this phase.

The hosts did break the rut after 55 balls without a boundary off the bat. After Rabada ended Rizvi’s struggle, Gaikwad carved a waist-high full toss from Curran for a four and sent the ensuing free-hit for the first six off the innings. Even so, CSK ended with a substantially under-powered total.

While Rahul had a great day on the field, his cousin Deepak had one to forget. CSK, who were already up against it defending a small score in dewy conditions, were dealt a big blow early in the target defence as Deepak hobbled off the field after bowling just two balls with an apparent hamstring injury. That injury exacerbated CSK’s predicament, who were already missing Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande with niggles.

The first two post-PowerPlay overs effectively sealed which way this game was headed. Gaikwad brought his spinners on but Jadeja and Moeen went for 10 and 11 in their first overs respectively with Bairstow hitting three fours and a six in the eight balls he faced there. Gaikwad, who was down a frontline bowler and having already used up the Impact Substitute in the first innings, turned to Dube.

The all-rounder had Bairstow dabbing a catch to Dhoni to fall for 46 off 30. Rossouw too fell in the forties, for a 23-ball 43 to Shardul, but at 113/3 after 12 overs which became 135/3 after 15, the chase was all but done.
The final phase of the game was but a formality as Sam Curran and Shashank Singh sauntered across the finish line, completing the chase with 13 balls to spare. (Cricbuzz)