Team Punjab recorded a thumping victory over Team Chennai and finished the 2021 edition of the Indian T20 league on a high. Team Chennai were restricted to a mere 134/6 in their 20 overs as the batting line-up struggled for the second consecutive game. In reply, Team Punjab raced away to the target and wrapped up the chase with seven overs to spare.
It is the third successive loss for Team Chennai as they finish the league stages with 18 points (nine wins and five losses). Despite these three losses, they are most likely to finish second on the points table as Team Bangalore lost their last game against Team Hyderabad and Team Chennai’s net run rate of +0.455 if well ahead of Team Bangalore which stands at -0.159.
Here are the talking points from the clash:
Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan rock Team Chennai early
Team Chennai opening batters have been in sublime form and they have been one of the big reasons why they have been so successful in this tournament. However, in the last couple of games, the opening partnership hasn’t really got going and that has put pressure on the middle-order which hasn’t stepped up.
In this game, the openers could share only an 18-run stand as Arshdeep Singh was the one who gave Team Punjab an early breakthrough. The left-arm pacer bounced Gaikwad out who holed out to square leg in the fourth over. Moeen Ali couldn’t open his account as Arshdeep accounted for him in his next over (sixth over of the innings) as the left-hander edged one to the keeper. Team Chennai could muster just 30/2 in the powerplay.
It was Chris Jordan who built on the start for Team Punjab as he got two wickets in as many overs. The Barbados-born England fast bowler had Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu caught in the deep while going for the pull and Team Chennai were reduced to 42/4 in the ninth over as both Arshdeep and Jordan picked up two wickets each.
Faf du Plessis stands tall and takes Team Chennai to 134/6
Faf du Plessis was the lone ranger for Team Chennai. The South African veteran held one end up at the start as he saw the Chennai top-order crumble. He didn’t get much of the strike either in the first half of the innings. He faced just 24 balls in the first 10 overs and even in that, he kept the scoreboard ticking as he got 25 off those 24 balls.
With wickets falling around him, he stabilized the innings before exploding in the last four overs. Du Plessis was batting on 40 off 39 balls at the end of the 16th over. But he went big and scored 36 runs off his last 16 deliveries. It was his blitz at the end that took Team Chennai from 86/5 in 16 overs to 136/6 at the end of 20 overs. Du Plessis finished with 76 off 55 balls and he was dismissed in the final over.
KL Rahul goes berserk as Team Punjab hunt down 135 in 13 overs
For most part of this 2021 season, KL Rahul has been criticised for his strike-rate. He has played cautiously at the top and he hasn’t really taken off even in the powerplay. However, in this game, he blasted away right from the start. He took the attack to the Team Chennai bowlers.
Rahul and Mayank Agarwal shared a 46-run stand in 4.3 overs before the latter was dismissed and for a change, it was Rahul who was the aggressor. The Team Punjab skipper contributed 33 runs in that partnership and that too off just 15 balls.
Despite losing Agarwal and Sarfaraz Khan in the same over (fifth of the innings), Rahul didn’t slow down. He kept taking going after the Chennai bowlers and brought up his half-century in 25 balls. Shahrukh Khan and Aiden Markram came in but didn’t get much of the strike either and were dismissed as well but it didn’t bother Rahul one bit as he kept going.
He finished with 98 not out which came off a mere 42 deliveries. He smashed seven fours and eight sixes. He helped Team Punjab wrap up the chase in just 13 overs. There was barely any other contribution from other batters from Team Punjab. The next best batter was Markram who got 13 off 8 deliveries.
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