Classy Rahul misses century but guides Punjab to comfortable victory over CSK
MUMBAI: A stand-out innings from Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul smashing an astonishing 42-ball 98*proved to be the difference against Chennai Super Kings in the first of the two double headers on Thursday. PK registered a six-wicket victory in 13 overs.
Punjab won the toss and chose to chase, more for tactical reasons. In the first half of PK’S bowling performance, their mediumpacers
IPL executed to perfection pre-match
2021 plans of using the short ball.
Every time a CSK batter fell, bowlers would run to Rahul with a “I told you so” expression. He would nod and clap in approval. Three of the four CSK batters dismissed in the first 10 overs were fell short balls.
Both the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa were caught in the deep playing awkward pull shots in the powerplay. While Mohammed Shami was the most economical, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan got amongst the wickets. Even Ambati Rayudu holed out to deep point slashing a Chris Jordan delivery, reducing CSK to 42/4 in the ninth over. It was then up to old pros MS Dhoni and Faf du Plessis to try and retrieve the situation.
Dhoni’s last IPL?
At the toss, Dhoni dropped a strong hint this could be his last IPL. “You can see me in yellow (next year), but whether I’ll be playing for CSK, there are a lot of uncertainties around it,” he said. “There are two new teams coming up and we don’t know the retention policy. So, we will wait for it to happen, hopefully it will be good for everyone.”
Dhoni has had a forgettable season with the bat. His IPL strike rate (95) since 2019 is the worst of all batters against spin. He was greeted with spin and tried to hit his way out.
Dhoni did connect a couple against some wide, flighted ones from Ravi Bishnoi to raise hopes he could rediscover form.
But the crafty youngster was up to the task, bowling Dhoni (12) off a googly. A few days earlier, Dhoni had spoken of a possible farewell in Chennai. Connecting the dots, it could well be that we may see a solitary Dhoni swansong match at home in 2022, but no longer a full season.
While 40-year-old Dhoni’s batting struggles can be understood given he plays no cricket other than IPL, his decision to keep Ravindra Jadeja down to No. 7 has hurt CSK.
When Jadeja came on to bat, he proved to be an ideal foil for top-scorer du Plessis in their 67-run sixth-wicket stand. Du Plessis successfully changed gears in the death overs, hammering six boundaries in the final over, getting on top of and under any lengths the PK bowlers bowled. He fell in the final over to a tired shot against a Shami short ball (76-55b, 8x4, 2x6) but lifted CSK to 134.
Rahul shines
Unlike in the India blues, Rahul (7x4, 8x6) opens for PK with a hands-tied approach and tries to bat through. In Dubai, he let go of all his inhibitions in an attempt to chase down the target quickly and keep alive the slimmest mathematical chance they had to make the playoffs.
In a classy exhibition of clean boundary striking, Rahul took down all CSK bowlers—pace on, pace off or spin to complete a 25-ball fifty. PK promoted big hitters Sarfaraz Khan and Sharukh Khan. Both got out early, hitting out on a two-paced pitch.
But Rahul was in such sublime form that with flick of wrists, angled blades and many stand-up-and-deliver strokes, he simply kept going. Forcing the bowlers into unforced errors, Rahul batted in top gear throughout, scoring 70% of PK’S runs.
He took the team home with an emphatic pull that landed beyond the mid-wicket boundary, finishing two short of a hundred. He tops the batting charts with 626 runs, 80 ahead of second-placed du Plessis. Brief scores: CSK 134/6 in 20 overs (F du Plessis 76; Arshdeep 2/35, C Jordan 2/20) lost to PK 139/4 in 13 overs (KL Rahul 98*, S Thakur 3/28) by six wickets.