Super win for Kings

Chennai, May 1

Punjab Kings mounted a pragmatic chase to consign Chennai Super Kings to a demoralising seven-wicket defeat at their own den in their IPL match here today.

Punjab rode on quick 40s by Jonny Bairstow (46 off 30 balls, with 7 fours and 1 six) and Rilee Rossouw (43 off 23 balls, with 5 fours and 2 sixes) to move past Chennai’s modest 162/7, which was built around skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s solid 62 off 48 balls (5 fours and 2 sixes).

The win took PBKS to seventh place with eight points, while CSK stayed on fourth with 10 points.

The Super Kings’ defence of 163 faced multiple barricades as their spinners — Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja — were rendered ineffective because of dew and pacer Deepak Chahar walked off the field with a niggle after bowling just two balls.

But that should not take the sheen out of PBKS’ effort with the bat on the night. After the early departure of opener Prabhsimran Singh, Bairstow and Rossouw kept the visitors in the hunt with a handy 64-run alliance as they also went past 50 in the powerplay segment.

Bairstow treated spinners Jadeja and Moeen with disdain. In stark contrast to their Punjab counterparts, the CSK spinners gave away 44 runs in five overs without any return.

Shashank Singh (25 not out off 26 balls) and skipper Sam Curran (26 not out off 20 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without much fuss during their unbroken 50-run alliance.

Earlier, Gaikwad braved a sluggish Chepauk pitch to make a solid fifty, but CSK struggled massively against Punjab spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar. Brar and Chahar exploited the slow track to the hilt to return with combined figures of 4/33 in eight overs. They also did not concede a single boundary.

“I don’t think about wickets. My aim is to bowl lots of dot balls in my spell and the dot balls create the chances. When there is spin in the wicket, the bowler’s confidence goes up,” said Brar, who was named the Player of the Match. — PTI 

Mayank doubtful for remainder of IPL

New Delhi: Pace sensation Mayank Yadav’s participation in the remainder of the IPL round-robin stage seems doubtful after he sustained a suspected abdominal muscle “tear” during the game against Mumbai Indians, making it his second injury breakdown in past four weeks. However, there is a silver lining for the 21-year-old Delhi man as he is all set to be given a pace bowling contract by the BCCI alongside Umran Malik, Vidwath Kaverappa, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Dayal and Akash Deep. The contract will place Mayank under the supervision of NCA’s Sports Science and Medical team, who will take charge of his injury management and fitness programme from his IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants. “Mayank has a tear but it is more likely a Grade 1 tear. In case LSG qualifies for the playoffs, he might just be able to play the knockout games,” a BCCI source said. pti

Brief scores

• CSK: 162/7 in 20 overs ( Gaikwad 62, Rahane 29; Brar 2/17, Chahar 2/16) vs PBKS: 163/3 in 17.5 overs (Bairstow 46, Rossouw 43, Curran 26*)

Tuesday’s result

• MI: 144/7 in 20 overs (Nehal 46, David 35*; Mohsin 2/36) vs LSG: 145/6 in 19.2 overs (Stoinis 62; Hardik 2/26)