Punjab Kings beat them by four wickets
Chennai: Shreyas Iyer and Prabhsimran Singh made well-measured fifties after a splendid hat-trick by Yuzvendra Chahal as Punjab Kings’ four-wicket victory knocked five-time champions Chennai Super Kings out of this season’s IPL play-off race here on Wednesday.
Riding on the late four-wicket haul from Chahal (4/32), including a hat-trick, PBKS bowled out CSK for 190, and despite a little stumbling towards the end, the visitors got over the line with two of balls to spare scoring 194/6.
Shreyas (72, 41b, 5×4, 4×6) and Prabhsimran (54, 36 balls, 5x4s, 3×6) were the architects of the victory.
PBKS have moved up to second in the table with 13 points while CSK are on 10th with just four points, and their improbable play-off hopes too were eliminated with this result.
Skipper Iyer responded with a meticulous fifty – his fourth since taking charge of PBKS – while Prabhsimran brought up his third half-century of the season as the two forged a crucial 72-run stand for the second wicket, which set the platform for PBKS’ win.
Earlier, Curran braved testing conditions to produce an imperious fifty but a late four-wicket burst from Chahal, including a hat-trick, kept the Super Kings to a total that was a tad below par.
Curran hit the first fifty of the season (88 off 47 balls, 9×4, 4×6) as he anchored the recovery process of his side from a precarious 48 for three in the power play.
With their backs against the wall, Curran teamed up with Dewald Brevis (32) to carefully plot CSK’s way back into the contest with a robust 78-run fourth-wicket stand.
