Sikandar Raza stuns CSK and Chepauk crowd
Neither SRK nor Raza are able to get the better of Pathirana. But they manage a single here, a leg bye there, two twos of the fourth and fifth balls and it comes down to three needed off one.
Raza shuffles to off for the shortish ball and pulls it to the long-leg boundary where the fielder dives just in time to save the boundary but by then SRK has reached home with Raza's arms up in the air!
The Chepauk crowd is stunned!
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PBKS need 9 off 6
The 19th over, bowled by Deshpande, has all the drama you expect from the last over. A first ball four, a wide, a slower dot ball, a contentious decision which was given out today but could have been six another day, a full toss edged for four despite a fine short third in place. 13 from the over, and Sikandar Raza joins SRK.
Pathirana to bowl the last. Bravo has his eyes peeled from the dugout.
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SRK on his home ground
Curran falls to a ripper of a delivery from Pathirana at the start of the 18th over, but Punjab Kings still have firepower left. Shahrukh Khan, who plays for Tamil Nadu, walks in front of his home crowd but to deafening chants of "CSK, CSK". He survives a yorker from Pathirana, he's surprised by a bouncer on the back foot and they manage nine runs from the over. Pathirana will also bowl the last over most likely, and now PBKS need 22 off 12. Can they make the most of the 19th over?
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Livingstone takes off and lands quickly
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72 required off 30. Livingstone on strike and he gets to face someone who is neither named Theekshana nor Pathirana. It's Tushar Deshpande, and Livingstone goes first on the leg side, then over the covers, four really lucky leg byes off the shoulder, and another six over midwicket to make it 6, 6, 4 and 6. Deshpande now tries an offcutting bouncer and finally gets the wicket CSK really wanted. Livingstone gone for 40 off 24. Punjab need 48 off 24, out comes Jitesh Sharma, another big hitter.
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More than two runs a ball now
Punjab Kings have slowed down in the middle overs and it's largely because of Pathirana’s slingy action that offers no bounce and Theekshana’s tight lines with his variations. They need 82 off 36 now, still very much gettable because Livingstone and Curran are out there, and Jitesh Sharma is padded up. But CSK are well on top.
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CSK edge ahead
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Three overs for 18 runs, and two wickets from Jadeja. And that included a 10-run over from Akash Singh; it's not his day at all. Atharva Taide is the second wicket for Jadeja after he hands a return catch and Punjab now have two England batters out there - Curran and Livingstone.
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Jadeja strikes at 100kmh!
Prabhsimran was really taking on the spinners. After he carted Theekshana around, he reverse swept Jadeja for four, muscled Moeen for six, going at nearly two runs a ball. But when he took on Jadeja again in his second over, he missed a big heave and was stumped for 42 off 24.
Livingstone at No. 3. Punjab need a big score from him. They are 84 for 2 after nine, with an asking rate if 10.63.
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It's raining boundaries in Chennai
There were some thunderstorms expected in the evening, but who thought it would come from Punjab! Chasing 201, Dhawan and Prabhsimran have come out all guns blazing. Dhawan danced down on the second ball against Akash and has gone on to score 21 off his nine balls. Prabhsimran took on Theekshana's carrom ball at the other end for a 12-run over, and they have raced to 46 from four overs.
CSK get a breakthrough. Dhawan slices a catch to short third off a cross-seam delivery from Tushar Deshpande in the fifth over. Atharva Taide at No. 3, Prabhsimran needs the support going.
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Time for rapid fire!
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Chepauk gets a glimpse of Dhoni
And how! Jadeja falls on the first ball of the last over, out walks Dhoni for the loudest cheers in the game. Dhoni scores just one off his first two balls before he gets to face the last two and belts out sixes off both of them; an upper cut over deep third and the low full toss smacked over deep midwicket. Dhoni finishes on 13 off 4, CSK 200, Conway 92 off 52.
Dhoni vs Sam Curran in the IPL before the game: 25 off 13. After today's game: 38 off 17.
Sampath says its the ninth time Dhoni has hit a six on the last ball of the 20th over in the IPL.
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Superb over from Arshdeep
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It's his last over, he has gone for 29 in his first three, and he sends down a mix of yorkers and slower balls that don't let Jadeja and Conway get under the ball or smash it by using the pace. No boundaries in the over, the first such since the 11th, and CSK are 11 with two to go. Conway on 85 off 47
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Jadeja at No. 5
Nope. CSK are sending one lefty after another, which is keeping Punjab's left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar away from the ball. Chahar has an attacking Moeen stumped at the start of the 17th over, and Jadeja joins Conway in the middle. CSK going great for 200-plus here.
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Hello, Livingstone!
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CSK are running away with boundaries and Punjab turn to their third spin option, Livinsgtone's offbreaks against two lefties. Three fours on the off side and 16 off the over.
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Conway survives, Dube falls
Kings, understandably, stuck with Rabada for another over and this time Dube has smoked him for a big six on the leg side, and Conway follows it with a ramp for four to make it a 14-run over.
Luck is also on CSK's side, but briefly. Conway gets a life, sort of, when his leading edge off Arshdeep's knuckle ball straight down the ground finds the perfect spot to land on by avoiding all fiddlers. It was beyond the bowler, landed short of long-off, too wide for cover, and lands in front of long-off's eyes.
But three balls alter, Dube finds long-on with a heave and falls for 28 off 17. Moon at No. 4, CSK 130 for 2 after 14.
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Kings counter Super Kings
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Since Dube has been sent out to take on the spinners, Dhawan immediately brings back Rabada's pace and he concedes just four in the over. Dube faces four of the six balls and scores just two.
Meanwhile, Conway races to his fifth fifty, off 30 balls, of the season with a reverse sweep off Raza.
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Gaikwad gone, Dube promoted to No. 3
Looks like Punjab Kings are going to use as many spinners as they can. Sikandar Raza is the second after Chahar, and once he has been taken for consecutive fours by Conway, he sends down a flat legbreak to have Gaikwad stumped for 37.
At No. 3 is Shivam Dube, CSK's new six-hitting machine, and he has been sent out to counter the spinners. Here's the lowdown from Deivarayan Muthu on how Dube takes on spinners more easily to hit sixes frequently.
CSK's wicketless powerplay
6 Wickets lost by CSK in powerplays in IPL 2023, the fewest by a team
Conway takes on Curran down the ground for back-to-back fours and Curran's second over goes for 16 runs (including a wide) after just three off his first. CSK 57 for 0 after the powerplay.
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The quiet one
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After the first three overs were peppered with fours from both Gaikwad and Conway against Arshdeep and Rabada, Curran comes in and bowls a quiet one for just three singles. They have already started bowling plenty of slower balls on this parched pitch. CSK 32 for 0 after four overs and on comes Rahul Chahar already.
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How to wait for your hero
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What's in store for CSK's batting?
CSK are batting first with batting down to No. 8, three frontline bowlers in Deshpande, Pathirana and Theekshana, apart from options in Moeen, Jadeja and Dube. And they will look to bring in another bowler in the second innings if all goes well for their batting. Three spinners to start with, no surprises there.
Their starting XI has four left-hand batters in Conway, Dube, Moeen and Jadeja and that brings into focus Punjab's legspinner Rahul Chahar. As you can see in the graphic above, he has been much better against lefties compared to the righties; averaging better while being more economical. It will be interesting to see when exactly they introduce him.
Can the Punjab Kings spinners strangle the CSK batters in their den? "Definitely not," CSK fans will say, surely, but Punjab will hope Chahar, Harpreet, Sikandar Raza and Livingstone step up and do the job today.
Some match-ups to watch out for:
Gaikwad vs Rabada in all T20s: 56 off 47, three dismissals
Dhoni vs Chahar in IPL: 17 off 30, two dismissals
Dhoni vs Sam Curran in IPL: 25 off 13, no dismissals
Rahane vs Rishi Dhawan in T20s: 35 off 36, three dismissals
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Toss and teams - Unchanged CSK opt to bat in the heat
CSK opt to bat because Dhoni wants to give his fast bowlers some rest in this heat. They play the same XI.
CSK XI: D Conway, R Gaikwad, A Rahane, M Ali, A Rayudu, S Dube, R Jadeja, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), T Deshpande, M Pathirana, M Theekshana. Sub options: Subhranshu Senapati, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Shaik Rasheed, Akash Singh
PBKS XI: S Dhawan (capt), A Taide, L Livingstone, S Raza, J Sharma (wk), S Curran, S Khan, H Brar, K Rabada, R Chahar, A Singh. Sub options: Prabhsimran, Short, Dhawan, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh
Dhawan would have batted first too. They bring in Harpreet Brar for Gurnoor Brar.
Pitch report: It's sun-baked, looks dry as a bone, quite a few cracks, and it's "a decent wicket", according to MS Dhoni.
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CSK are back home
After flying east to Kolkata and west to Jaipur, CSK are back down south and back home at the Chepauk to host Punjab Kings. CSK have played three games at home so far and won two, losing to who else but Rajasthan Royals, and two of the three games played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium so far have been won batting first. Today is a 3.30pm IST start, so don't be surprised if the team winning the toss bats, because there will be no dew factor. It's also terribly hot and super humid, with some chances of rain, but we should get a game. Toss coming up soon...
You can also track the game with our ball-by-ball commentary in Hindi and in Tamil.
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