Chennai Super Kings (CSK) came second for the second time in six matches at home in the ongoing edition of the IPL as Punjab Kings kept their hopes alive of a late push towards the playoffs with a 7-wicket win. Injuries, loss of form of players, lost tosses amidst heavy dew have not helped CSK’s cause and as skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad mentioned they had the worst of conditions while both batting and bowling and were easily 40 runs short. Punjab Kings chased the target beautifully, however, the fans couldn’t forget the double ran by Daryl Mitchell which earned him zero runs and almost got him out.
Former CSK skipper MS Dhoni took charge in the final over bowled by Arshdeep Singh. Dhoni despite failing to middle a couple of balls, believed in his ability to get a few more runs for his side and poor Daryl Mitchell remained stuck to the non-striker’s end.
The incident happened on the third ball of the final over when Dhoni hit a widish delivery from Arshdeep to the deep covers pocket and Mitchell started running as soon as his partner hit the ball. However, Dhoni denied the run and Mitchell was in his zone. He ran all the way towards the striker’s end, touched his bat in the popping crease and came back before almost getting run out.
Dhoni scored seven runs off the last three balls before getting run out, as he was dismissed for the first time in the season. However, the fans couldn’t forget that moment and felt bad for Mitchell, who has been the most dependable batter for New Zealand across all formats and was coming off a fifty.
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CSK ended up scoring 162, which wasn’t enough as Punjab Kings got through the chase without much discomfort. The two teams play each other again in a few days’ time in Dharamsala on Sunday, May 5.
