Deep
- Oct 7, 2021
- 4 min read

IPL 2021 - CSK vs PBKS - Rahul's demolishing act (98*) bulldozes Chennai; Punjab still to make it

KL Rahul (98*) single handedly takes Punjab over the line, tough to make playoffs.

Punjab Kings 139 for 4 (Rahul 98*, Thakur 28-3) beat Chennai Super Kings 134 for 6 (Du Plessis 76, Jordan 20-2) by six wickets.

IPL 2021, CSK vs PBKS: Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets, KL Rahul scores unbeaten 98 runs.

KL Rahul single handedly win the game for Punjab Kings (BCCI/IPL)

The 53rd match of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) was played between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). This was the last game for both sides in this season of IPL. Chennai Super Kings have already qualified for playoffs, while Kings XI has a very rare outside chance to qualify for playoffs.

Rahul wins toss, opts to field

Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. They fielded Chris Jordan in their eleven in this game in place of Nicholas Pooran while Chennai played the same eleven which took the field in their last game.

Arshdeep and Jordan blow up batting line-up of Chennai

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis is the most successful opening pair in this season of IPL, however, Ruturaj went back to the pavilion on just 12 today as he got caught by Shahrukh Khan at square leg region off an intimidating bouncer by Arshdeep Singh.

Arshdeep bagged another wicket in his next over as Moeen Ali edged one and was caught by wicketkeeper KL Rahul on a precious duck. Veteran batter Robin Uthappa also got out while trying to play a shot on the leg side off a delivery by Chris Jordan which bounced more than usual.

Next batter Ambati Rayudu also repeated the same mistake of playing in the air. He played one towards deep backward point, which went in the hands of Arshdeep. Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in the middle and cracked one boundary off Ravi Bishnoi, however, he got bowled by the same bowler through a beautiful googly in the same over.

Du Plessis and Jadeja stabilise innings to explode in death overs

CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter Du Plessis played cautiously to rebuild the innings and added 67 runs for the sixth wicket. After completing his fifty off 46 balls, Du Plessis played some attacking shots to help Chennai reach around 130. He finished his sensible innings with 76 runs off 55 balls, comprising eight fours and two gigantic sixes. Dwayne Bravo smashed one boundary on the penultimate ball, to take Chennai to 134 in 20 overs. Arshdeep and Jordan bagged two scalps each in this innings.

KL Rahul bestowed Punjab a swashbuckling start

Punjab openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal provided a blistering start to the innings. Rahul, who was unforgiving in his 98*(42) today, struck two consecutive boundaries in the first over of the innings bowled by Deepak Chahar. Rahul continued his assault on the bowling of Chahar and Josh Hazlewood in the next few overs.

This swashbuckling knock of Rahul forced Dhoni to bring their ace seamer, Shardul Thakur, on the attack. Thakur sent back two batters to the dugout in his first over, as Agarwal was given out on an LBW appeal, which he didn’t review after consulting with his partner Rahul. However, it was later found that the ball was missing the stumps in ball-tracker.

Youngster Sarfaraz Khan returned to the pavilion on duck once again, as a slower ball of Thakur took the thick edge of his bat and was caught by Du Plessis on mid-off.

Rookie batter Shahrukh Khan, who is known for his explosive batting in domestic cricket, could score only 8 runs and got out off the delivery of Chahar, as Bravo caught him at long-on. At the other end, Rahul continued his explosive batting off the bowling of Chahar and Thakur.

Thakur picked his third wicket as Aiden Markram edged one and was caught behind the stumps.

Rahul completely demolished Chennai bowling from the other end by launching eight mammoth sixes and seven fours in his match-winning unbeaten knock of 98 runs off just 42 balls.

IPL 2021 Points Table

Punjab move to fifth spot in the points table

This loss didn’t alter the position of Chennai Super Kings in the points table, who are placed at the second position, after completing their league games. Punjab Kings moved to the fifth spot from sixth with a total of 12 points, after this huge win over Chennai, with 42 balls remaining. Their net run rate is -0.001 after this match but the chances of their qualification remain slim as it depends on other teams’ results.

Rajasthan Royals are playing Kolkata Knight Riders at Sharjah in the second game of the day.

Top Twitter Reactions as Punjab Kings beat CSK

Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets courtesy KL Rahul's unbeaten 98 runs including 7x4s and 8x6s. Punjab move to fifth position in points table and road look tough for them to make it to playoffs. Crickets fans and former players congratulated Punjab Kings skipper, KL Rahul for his scintillating innings. Here are some of the finest Twitter Reactions from CSKvPBKS:

Deepak Chahar proposed his girlfriend in the stands after CSK vs PBKS match got over.