Ayush Mhatre's Onslaught In Vain As Shreyas Iyer Takes Punjab Kings To Five-Wicket Win

Chennai Super Kings’ star teenage batter Ayush Mhatre’s 43-ball 73-run knock went in vain as Punjab Kings’ skipper Shreyas Iyer took his team to a five-wicket win, while scoring a 29-ball 50.

Shreyas (50 off 29) and a 59-run fourth-wicket partnership with Nehal Wadhera guided Punjab to 210/5, chasing 209 on a dew-free Chepauk night, handing CSK their second straight defeat.

It was Punjab’s second victory on the trot, but there were other heroes too on the night for the PBKS.

Chasing a steep target at almost 11 runs per over, PBKS relied on steady, composed batting from their top order, with contributions coming from almost everyone.

Priyansh Arya (39, 11 balls), Prabhsimran Singh (43, 34b) and Cooper Connolly (36, 22b) all came up with memorable

contributions.

Arya unleashed havoc on the CSK attack, sending Khaleel Ahmed for a four and a six, while Matt Henry was hammered for 4, 6, 4 in an expensive first over that went for 20 runs.

Arya and Prabhsimran cracked 61 runs in less than five overs, which gave a strong portend to the route the game was taking.

Priyansh fell to Henry, offering CSK brief relief, but the real star of PBKS’ charge was skipper Shreyas, who showed his full repertoire of shots.

Shreyas began cautiously, scoring eight off nine deliveries while Connolly anchored the innings. Once the Australian fell to Anshul Kamboj, Shreyas took charge of the chase.

As expected, Iyer hammered the spinners and the shot of the innings was an inside-out six off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar.

Shreyas brought up his half-century in 26 deliveries with a four off Kamboj, but soon fell to the bowler, chasing a wide ball.

Wadhera fell in the first delivery of the next over to Henry as PBKS slipped to 186/5 from 186/3.

But that proved a minor aberration.

Earlier, Mhatre showed his abundant talent with a 43-ball 73, powering the Super Kings to a competitive 209/5.

Mhatre and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (28) added 96 runs for the second wicket after Sanju Samson returned to the hut early.

Samson shifted to the leg side and attempted to smack Xavier Bartlett’s out-swinger over covers, but only managed a thick edge to Prabhsimran behind the stumps.

But Samson’s dismissal proved a minor jitter, as Mhatre tore apart Punjab’s bowling with power and precision.

Pacer Bartlett bore the brunt early as Mhatre hammered him for three successive fours, a loft over mid-wicket, a flick and a pull, propelling CSK to 57/1 in the Power Play.

Mhatre seemed to have put behind, at least for now, his problems against short-pitched deliveries, as the Mumbai young man later pulled Marco Jansen for a six.

Mhatre also punished Marcus Stoinis for two sixes in a row, both down the ground and the first maximum also fetched his half-century in 29 deliveries.

But Mhatre shrugged a bit against the guiles of Yuzvendra Chahal, failing to read him well.

Chahal foxed Mhatre, 17 years younger than him, with a series of googlies, but fortune wasn’t in favour of the former.

On 59, Mhatre was dropped by Vijayakumar Vyshak inside the circle and later on 67 by Shahshank Singh in the deep.

But luck ran out as Mhatre’s attempt to steer Vyshak ended in the hands of Chahal at short third man, as both of them got their own piece of revenge.

Gaikwad was ousted by Chahal as CSK’s march dulled a bit between the 10th and 15th overs, making just 45 runs.

Sarfaraz Khan (32, 12 balls) tried to instil some urgency into CSK’s innings while playing his trademark dabs and close-to-body shots for a flurry of fours.

But that innings coupled with a few strong hits by Shivam Dube (45, 27b) helped CSK eke out 64 runs in the last five overs, but that proved insufficient.

(With PTI Inputs)