Punjab Kings won by 4 wickets over Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 30. CSK won the toss and opt to bat. They posted 200 runs in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of Devon Conway’s swashbuckling 92. Later MS Dhoni smashed 13 off 4 and helped the team as well.
While chasing, Prabhsimran Singh scored 42. Liam Livingstone also hit 40 whereas Sikandar Raza sealed the deal with a 7-ball 13 as well on the final ball of the match. Tushar Deshpande picked up 3 wickets but gave away 49 runs as well.
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Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:
Devon Conway, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: As I said at the innings break, we felt that it is a bit slow when you hit the wicket but to be fair it was a good wicket. We felt that 200 was a very competitive score. Disappointed that we lost that one. It is never easy. It is about keeping things simple, sticking to my process and not to complicate things. In T20s it can be up and down. I try to work as close as I can with Mike Hussey who is very experienced not only for Australia but also for CSK, he has played a lot of cricket here, along with the other players. I enjoy batting with Ruturaj and Ajinkya has got a lot of experience. When you build partnerships, it helps.
Shikhar Dhawan, PBKS captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: It feels very very special. Beating Chennai in Chennai is a very big thing. Very very pleased and that shows the great character of our side, leaving that loss behind and coming up with a fresh mindset. I was very happy with the way our bowlers bowled, we got them at the right score. They have been very consistent. As a captain we wanted them to play more overs, Liam has got his touch back and would want him to bat more overs. Good signs that all are playing well.
Sikandar Raza said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Everytime you win a match for your team it’s a good feeling. I was just looking at a lot of arms being raised in the dressing room (discussion with umpires before final ball). No idea. Maybe it was about retiring one of the guys. I don’t know. We said we were one boundary away from run a ball (in the final over), and if we can’t get that, we’ll run well. That over where Livi took charge and took 20 off one over, that changed momentum. When I went, I just wanted to run as hard as I can. I was trying to hit a six but wasn’t succeeding.
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MS Dhoni, CSK captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: We need to be prepared as to what is to be done. The last few overs when we were batting, we could have gotten 10-15 more. Our bowling needed some cushion. The slower one did grip. Our batters have been putting runs consistently. I think 200 was par but we bowled two bad overs. We know the conditions well. We didn’t bowl well. You didn’t want to get hit to that side. You need to see what is the problem. The execution or the plan. Pathirana bowled really well. The first six overs we can do better. What lines to bowl.
