Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings were facing each other in their last league game in Dubai. CSK are already through to the playoffs while PBKS have a very outside chance to make it to the top-four. Apart from winning the game with a huge margin, they need other results to go in their favour as well.
PBKS won the toss and opted to field first. They dropped Nicholas Pooran and brought Chris Jordan in their playing XI. On the other hand, CSK opted to go with the same playing XI.
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Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis found it hard to score runs inside the powerplay. Arshdeep Singh dismissed Gaikwad and Moeen Ali inside the powerplay and CSK were 30/2 after six overs. Mohammed Shami gave only six runs in his first three overs that he bowled in the powerplay.
Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni got out cheaply and CSK were 61/5 in 12 overs. Du Plessis and Ravindra Jadeja, then, shared 67 runs for the sixth wicket. Du Plessis scored 76 runs in 55 balls as CSK managed 134/6 in 20 overs.
In response, KL Rahul came out with all guns blazing. He scored freely from the word go and added 46 runs in 4.3 overs before Mayank Agarwal got out to Shardul Thakur, who dismissed Sarfaraz Khan in the same over for a duck. Shahrukh Khan also got out for 8 in 10 balls a few overs later.
Rahul, however, wasn’t bothered by whatever is happening on the other end. He played a scintillating knock and scored his fifty in 25 balls. Aiden Markram gave him good company but he could only score 13 runs before getting out to Thakur.
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Rahul punished CSK bowlers hard and scored unbeaten 98 runs in just 42 balls which featured seven fours and eight gigantic sixes. PBKS chased down the target in 13 overs and six wickets in hand.
See how Twitter reacted to this game;
What a knock by @klrahul11 ! Hats off in single handedly taking @PunjabKingsIPL to victory! #PBKSvCSK
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) October 7, 2021
KL Rahul batting in full flow is a charismatic site! #quality
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 7, 2021
Watching KL Rahul bat today was like being at an art gallery and seeing one jaw dropping exhibit after another.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 7, 2021
That was one of the finest T20 innings you will see … sublime 🙌👏👏👏 @klrahul11
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) October 7, 2021
Brilliant knock by @klrahul11, perhaps best in second phase. Not the first time #CSK have got such a hammering. #RR earlier chased down 189. After starting with streak of wins, CSK have hit a trough. #PBKS superb tonight but unlikely to be in play-off. Have themselves to blame
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 7, 2021
Oh my goodness KL 😳#PBKSvCSK
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) October 7, 2021
So the Orange cap went from KL Rahul to Ruturaj Gaikwad to Faf du Plessis and back to Rahul this game 🙃 🔃 pic.twitter.com/tin4DsPVoV
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 7, 2021
