For Chennai Super Kings, batting woes continued as they once again failed to chase down an imposing score, this time falling short by 18 runs against Punjab Kings. Punjab set a massive target of 220, and in response to this herculean task, CSK scored just 201 runs in their allotted 20 overs, despite a bright start.
Toss
After winning the toss, Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer chose to bat first and retained the same playing XI as in their last match. Chennai Super Kings, too, retained an unchanged XI.
Playing XIs
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Vijay Shankar, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, R Ashwin, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed
CSK Subs: Shivam Dube, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Priyansh Arya, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson
PBKS Subs: Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Parvin Dubey, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijayakumar Vyshak
Arya’s Masterclass During Punjab’s Middle-Order Breakdown
Priyansh Arya made a brilliant comeback with the fastest century by an uncapped Indian player (103 off just 42 balls), after scoring a golden duck in the previous match. This century of Arya was also the fourth quickest century in IPL history, made in just 39 balls, and included 7 fours and 9 big sixes. Arya utilized his lifelines before being dropped a couple of times.
That was enough for Arya to go on anchor and stabilize the PBKS inning when they were 6 down within 14 overs. But he decided to take the attack in the opposition’s camp.
Shashank Singh (54) and Marco Jansen (34) formed an undefeated 65-run partnership later in the match to finish it off on a high note and make sure that Arya’s massive effort doesn’t go in vain.
CSK’s bowling attack was abysmal. Ravindra Jadeja had a good performance but ended up giving more than 9 runs on average during the innings. Khaleel Ahmed and R Ashwin took two wickets apiece, but they had little to boast about in terms of bowling economy rate.
Promising Start, Yet CSK Can’t Seal the Deal
Finally, CSK had a decent opening partnership, their best of this season, with Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway putting on 59 in the powerplay. It was the perfect launch for what lay ahead: a daunting chase. The timeout curse struck again. Ravindra, batting so fluently, got out just three balls after the timeout. His departure caused everything to fall apart, and Gaikwad was out too after just facing three balls.
Conway was still with Shivam Dube, with whom he shared a crucial 89 runs with but who must pay for their shortness in making the runs: it was too slow for just 51 balls. Dube fell after making 42, and Conway had to be retired out as he was not clearing the boundary at will.
MS Dhoni lit up the night with some last-minute fireworks, hitting three big sixes, two of which came in Lockie Ferguson’s last over. However, even for Captain Cool, 26 in the last 6 balls was too big a task.
Punjab’s bowlers stayed calm during the final overs, especially Ferguson, even though Dhoni was attacking in his last over; He did a great job, taking 2 wickets.
Player of the Match
Priyansh Arya rightfully earned the Player of the Match title with his astounding score of 103 runs off just 42 balls.
Read More: Buttler’s Brilliance and Siraj’s Firepower Lead Gujarat Titans to Victory Over RCB
Scorecard CSK vs PBKS, 22nd Match IPL 2025, Mohali, Apr 08, 2025
Punjab Kings 219/6
- Priyansh Arya 103 (42)
- Shashank Singh 52 (36)
- Marco Jansen 34 (19)
- Lockie Ferguson 2/40
- Glenn Maxwell 1/11
- Yash Thakur 1/39
Chennai Super Kings 201/5
- Devon Conway 69 (49)
- Shivam Dube 42 (27)
- Rachin Ravindra 36 (23)
- Khaleel Ahmed 2/45
- Ravichandran Ashwin 2/48
- Mukesh Choudhary 1/21
