New Delhi, May 01, 2023: The MA Chidambaram Stadium is the home to last-over thrillers. It is where the legend of MS Dhoni continues to grow. On nights where Chennai Super Kings pull-off heists, the noise can be deafening with the yellow flags fluttering all-around. On Sunday evening, as Punjab Kings’s Shikander Raza and Shahrukh Khan ran three runs off the last ball to chase down Chennai’s total of 200/4, one could listen to a deafening silence. Just like how the whistles could be de ear-splitting, the silence was equally loud. For a good 15 seconds, as three fielders ran to stop Raza’s mis-timed shot over the square-leg fielder, the 36,000-odd fans were on their feet, holding their breath. Though Maheesh Theekshana succeeded in keeping the ball in play and Ruturaj Gaikwad hurled in the throw, Raza and Khan had run three, leaving Chepauk faithful shell-shocked.
With nine runs needed from the last over, a Punjab win looked certain. Yet, thanks to some exceptional death bowling from Matheesha Pathirana, who conceded only six runs off five deliveries, it came down to the final ball where Raza was smart enough to pick the vast part of the outfield. There were deliberations in Punjab’s camp before the last ball, whether to ask Shahrukh to retire hurt and send Harpreet Brar – who is quicker between the wickets. But they persisted with Shahrukh, who scampered home.
From the moment Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan walked in and gave Punjab a racing start, they were very much in the game. In a day game with no dew to factor in, the Super Kings would have fancied to defend the total. However, with a young pace battery, teams have been quick to get off the blocks against Chennai this season and the trend continued as Punjab brought up their fifty inside five overs as the openers made the most out of the fielding restrictions. While the dismissals of the openers and Atharva Taide did bring the Super Kings back into the game, Punjab were still going at a healthy run-rate as they were ahead of the hosts till the end of 11th over at 97/3.
With Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Raza, Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh left, it was all about finding one big over. While Dhoni relied on Pathirana to tie up the chase as Punjab found only two boundaries in four overs, the 16th over by Tushar Desphande proved to be a clincher for Punjab. Deshpande, who had accounted for the vital wicket of Dhawan, has been evolving as a reliable option at the death too. But Livingstone – who was struggling to pick Pathirana – decided to cut loose as he hit three sixes in the over. A four coming off a leg-bye, Punjab got the over they wanted. From there on, Punjab were unstoppable. The next over from Ravindra Jadeja fetched them 17 runs. Though Pathirana returned to dismiss Curran, Punjab still managed to score nine runs off the 18th over before Deshapande gave away 13 off his final over to leave the Sri Lankan defending 9 runs.
Conway shows the way
Winning the toss and batting first, Chennai once again benefited from Devon Conway. With his unbeaten knock of 92 off 52 deliveries, Conway has amassed 414 runs without actually setting the stage on fire. In nine matches he averages 59.14 and more importantly has a healthy strike-rate of 144.25. In a team where there are more aesthetically pleasing and marauding batsmen, the left-hander is holding the batting unit like a glue, mixing aggression with caution as he scored his fifth fifty of the season. As has been the case this season, Conway combined with Ruturaj Gaikwad to give Chennai another rapid start in the powerplay scoring 57 without losing a wicket according to the reports published in indianexpress.com.
