Gaikwad fifty helps CSK set Punjab 163 to win

Ruturaj Gaikwad © Sportzpics

A good half century from Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad helped his side reach a slightly below par but competitive 162/7 batting first in their Tata Indian Premier League clash against the Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday evening.

Gaikwad was the core of his side's innings as he struck five fours and two sixes on his way to 62 off 48 balls, while the Punjab spinners largely kept the hosts in check with Rahul Chahar, 2-16, and Harpreet Brar, 2-17, particularly impressing in their four-over spells.

The Super Kings' innings got off to a steady start with just 23 coming off the first four overs, but the final two overs of the powerplay saw the openers tuck into the bowling.

A four off the bat of Ajinkya Rahane, 29 off 24 (5x4), and two boundaries from Gaikwad helped 14 come off Arshdeep Singh in the fifth over, while three fours in a row from Rahane in Sam Curran in the sixth led to 18 coming off it as they moved to 55/0.

Punjab then fought back, with two tight overs followed by a brilliant ninth over bowled by Brar as he had Rahane top edging to Rilee Rossouw at cow corner, before trapping Shivam Dube LBW for a first-ball duck as the hosts slipped to 65/2.

Chahar struck in the next over, getting the ball to spin inside Ravindra Jadeja’s (2) bat and nail him in front LBW to reduce the Super Kings to 71/3 at the halfway stage of their innings.

Sameer Rizvi (21) joined Gaikwad and they stopped the rot with a 37-run fourth-wicket stand, taking their side past the hundred run mark in the 15th over.

Kagiso Rabada broke the partnership in the 16th over, having Rizvi caught by Harshal Patel coming in from deep third man, leaving them on 107/4.

Gaikwad, who had been very quiet since the end of the powerplay, finally opened up in the 17th as he targeted Curran, cracking him for four and then launching him over long on for six to reach his half century, before pulling the last ball of the over for six as 20 came off it.

Moeen Ali (15) got in on the action off Singh in the 18th, striking a six and a four before Gaikwad was bowled with the score 145/5.

Ali was next to fall, bowled by Chahar in the 19th, which brought in crowd favourite MS Dhoni (14) and he got them cheering as he cracked a four and launched a six in Singh’s last over of the innings as they reached a defendable score.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Jack Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman

PUNJAB KINGS: Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Sam Curran (capt), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar