Chennai:Ā On a double-paced wicket where the ball was spinning at M A Chidambaram Stadium here,Ā the Chennai Super Kings proved they are the masters.Thanks to their spin trio – Harbhajan, Tahir and Jadeja – Dhoni’s boys defeated Kings XI Punjab by 22 runs.
Chasing 161 for victory, Punjab managed 138 for 5 in 20 overs. At one stage, Punjab was tipped favourites as Rahul and Sarfraz were going strong. Though both managed half-centuries, they left a lot for last three overs, which proved costly for them in the end.
Harbhajan was adjudged Man of the Match for his 2 for 20. Tahir and Jadeja applied the brakes on scoring as they did not leak runs.
Earlier, CSK, while batting, lost their plot in the middle overs thanks to Ashwin taking three wickets and Murugan Ashwin bowling a tight length. It took Dhoni and Rayudu to score over 50 runs in last five overs to help CSK reach 160.
After winning the toss, CSK chose to bat. They made three changes. Faf du Plessis, Scott and Harbhajan played today’s match. Faf set the momentum going by scoring briskly in the first few overs.
With today’s win, CSK has won four out of five games so far this year. They are now on top of the points table.