Dhawan blasts Chennai bowlers, scores 88 in 59 balls

Mumbai, April 25: Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 88 off 59 followed by brilliant bowling efforts helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 11 runs in the 2022 IPL match here at Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Riding on Dhawan’s 88 not-out, PBKS set 188 run targets. In reply, CSK scored 176 for the loss of six wickets. In his 200th IPL match, Dhawan became the second player to 6000 IPL runs after Virat Kohli. He also became the first batter to score 1000 runs against CSK. Chasing 188-run target, CSK got off to a dismal start as they posted 32 runs for the loss of two wicket in the powerplay. Sandeep Sharma trapped Robin Uthappa in the second over cheaply for 1 then, Arshdeep Singh bowled Mitchell Santner (9) in the sixth over. Rishi Dhawan gave PBKS a big breakthrough as he removed Shivam Dube for the mere score of 8 in the seventh over and CSK were reeling 40/3. Ruturaj Gaikwad (30 off 27) and Ambati Rayudu established 49-run partnerships for the third wicket before Kagiso Rabada packed up Gaikwad in the 13th over and skipper Ravindra Jadeja came to join Rayudu. In the 15th over, Rayudu brought up his 22nd IPL fifty with a maximum off the bowling of Rahul Chahar. Rayudu (78 off 39) and Jadeja shared 64 runs in the fifth wicket partnership, which Rabada ended by getting rid of the former in the 18th over and made the task tougher for Chennai. CSK needed 33 off 9 balls to win with MS Dhoni and Jadeja batting but Arshdeep’s fantastic bowling effort put PBKS on the driver’s seat. With 27 needed off the final over, Dhoni (12) hit the first ball for the maximum but on the third ball Rishi trapped him with a slower ball and snatched the match from CSK. Rabada and Rishi claimed two wickets each while Sandeep and Arshdeep got one apiece. Earlier, PBKS had a slow start after being put into bat first, as they posted their lowest total in the powerplay 37/1. Maheesh Theekshana sent skipper Mayanak Agarwal (18) in the sixth over. After a slow start, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa anchored the innings with their partnership and in the 14th over, the former brought up his 46th IPL half-century. The duo gradually accelerated the inning to add quick runs on the board to post a comeptitive total. The calculated assault from Dhawan and Rajapaksa brought up a century stand for the second wicket off 68 balls in the 17th over. The duo stitched a 110-run partnership off 71 balls which Bravo broke as he got rid of Rajapaksa in the 18th over. Then, Bravo dismissed dangerous Liam Livingstone in the final over, who played a crucial cameo by scoring 19 off 7 balls. Dhawan then hit a six and a boundary before Jonny Bairstow (6) got run out in the final ball and PBKS set a 188-run target for the defending champions. Bravo scalped two wickets while Theekshana got one. (UNI)