Punjab Kings (PBKS) showcased both their best and worst sides in approximately 45 minutes, and the bad overshadowed the good as they lost to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 28 runs in a crucial encounter. With a comfortable win, Men in Yellow claimed the third spot in the points table, keeping their hopes strong to earn a place in the playoffs. Sam Curran’s team had dominated proceedings since the toss. A target of 168 should’ve been easily achievable, especially given that they blasted six boundaries in 18 balls between the fifth and seventh overs.

The equation at the time was 112 off 78, with eight wickets in hand. This was not the time to collapse, but they did, losing both of their set batters Prabhsimran Singh (30) and Shashank Singh (27), their captain, and their finisher. They went from 62/2 to 78/7 in no time. CSK bowlers read the pitch conditions well and bowled exceptionally well, restricting PBKS to 139/9.

Earlier, Tushar Deshpande gave CSK a dream start, cleaning up Jonny Bairstow (7) and Rilee Rossouw for a duck in the same over. Ravindra Jadeja starred with a three-wicket haul while Deshpande and Simarjeet Singh picked up two each. Jadeja received the Player of the Match award for his all-round performance.

Earlier in the day, CSK failed to have a good start as Arshdeep Singh dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for 9. But Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell batted well to add 57 runs for the second wicket. Rahul Chahar struck twice in the 8^th over to give CSK a huge blow, dismissing Gaikwad (32) and Shivam Dube. Mitchell departed for 30 while Moeen Ali chipped in with 17. Jadeja’s (43) power-hitting towards the end helped CSK to reach a decent 167/9 in 20 overs.