The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played an away match against the Sam Curran-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 53rd match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday. , 5th of May.
As usual, Gaikwad lost the toss and CSK was asked to bat first. The visitors finished the game with a score of 167 to 9 as the batters did not perform well. Ravindra Jadeja (43) emerged as the top run-getter while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell contributed runs in 30s.
Ravindra Jadeja defended the score, showed his bowling masterclass and picked 3 wickets for 20 runs. Simarjeet Singh and Tushar Deshpande took two wickets each while Shardul Thakur and Mitchell Santner got one each as PBKS were restricted to 139/9. CSK won the match by 28 runs and moved ever closer to the playoffs.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said that the pitch was slower and they were happy with the result achieved. Ruturaj Gaikwad said:
“Everyone thought the wicket was slow. Even a small jump. At the beginning we only thought about pushing to 180-200. After losing the wickets, we thought 160-170 was a good result.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad spoke about Simarjeet Singh and said that the pacer didn’t get many chances but it is never too late to introduce him. Ruturaj Gaikwad said:
“I don’t know what he does, but even in the pre-season he managed 150 kmph (on Simarjeet). He didn’t get too many chances, but it’s never too late. We thought about playing impact batter but then we changed our minds. The batsman will give 10-15 runs but he might give 2-3 wickets.
Ruturaj Gaikwad concluded by expressing his joy over the win and said:
“Some of the boys were struggling with the flu. Until morning we didn’t even know who was playing or not. I’m really happy about getting the win.”
Chennai Super Kings struggled against Punjab Kings in the last 5 games
Surprisingly, the Chennai Super Kings do not have a great direct record against the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League. Going into their second IPL 2024 game against each other, CSK had a slender lead of 15-14 over PBKS in 29 matches. However, in the previous five matches, the Punjab Kings franchise completely dominated as they had won all those matches.
In the history of the cash-rich league, only two teams have beaten five-time champions Chennai Super Kings in five consecutive games, with the first team, as expected, being Mumbai Indians and the other team being Punjab Kings, who started and set a record series in 2021 on Wednesday, May 1, equaled MI’s record by defeating CSK by seven wickets in Chepauk.
Talking about results, on October 7, 2021, PBKS won by 6 wickets with 42 balls remaining before registering back-to-back wins in IPL 2022 by 54 and 11 runs respectively. A clash has occurred only once in IPL 2023 and PBKS won the match by 4 wickets on April 30.
Now, after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League 2024 match between Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings, the head-to-head record stands at 16-14 in favor of CSK.