NEWS
Follow UsOn May 2, against formidable opposition in Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab Kings (PBKS) put out a comprehensive and all-around performance to defeat the team in yellow on their own soil for the fourth time. With that, they became only the second team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to do so against CSK.
The game was set up by the PBKS spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar, who notched up impressive figures of 17/2 and 16/2 in their four overs, respectively. They combined to clean up Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja in the eighth and ninth over of the game and broke the back of CSK’s middle order that failed to score at a consistent rate after the first six overs.
Speaking to the press, Rilee Rossouw was quite appreciative of both the tweakers as they helped Punjab attain their fifth consecutive win against CSK, and he felt that his team adapted better to the conditions than the home team.
“It takes different types of skills to play on these kinds of wickets. You do not get flat surfaces every day, and you have to adapt to them. Tonight, Punjab Kings adapted better than Chennai,” Rossouw said.
"Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar have been phenomenal. They have been coming in good form for us. Chahar is bowling well. Brar has been consistent. They are keeping it simple, and keeping it wicket-to-wicket, and always being in play, whether the ball is turning or not, to give them a wicket. They have been phenomenal for us, especially economy-wise,” Rossouw added.
The left-handed Proteas batter, who also contributed with a fiery 43 off 23 in the chase, credited skipper Sam Curran’s captaincy for Punjab being courageous and fearless in their game plans. One such instance was when Curran gave the ball to Chahar in the 19th over of the game against MS Dhoni, who is slow off the blocks against wrist spinners. Chahar ended up giving only three runs in that over and knocked out Moeen Ali’s woodwork.
"I have to give credit to Sam Curran, who came to me and checked what I thought about using a leg-spinner in the second last over. And he took the gamble, it was his gut feeling and it came off beautifully well. It was a brave decision and not something we see in cricket nowadays. Also, Chahar stepped up well and bowled that over fantastically well. That is how our game has evolved. On a slow-turning wicket, it was a good call," Rossouw said.
Speaking earlier at the post-match presentation, Curran had detailed his strategies for using Chahar against MS Dhoni in the death overs.
"We wanted to try something different by trying Rabada in the powerplay. We wanted to use our spinners later on. Chahar was the best bowler in the last game, and he's bowling with great confidence. He stepped up when I asked him to bowl against MS Dhoni in the 19th over. The fast bowlers were going for a bit in the end, and I wanted to try something different. In this game where everyone has been going for runs, you need to take such gambles. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't," Curran said.
PBKS will next face the same opposition in Dharamshala on Sunday, May 5, and Rossouw stressed being on top of every single ball during the game, as they’ll be up against a stiff challenge from spirited CSK, who’ll be desperate for a fight back.
"We just have to take one game at a time. We will head to Dharamsala, where the wickets will be harder and flat. Anyone can beat anyone in IPL; that is the competition's beauty. You have to be on top of your game every second ball. We still have four games, and want to focus on the next one. We will focus on our energy in Dharamsala. We want to focus on our results.”
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