Dubai: Skipper KL Rahul led from the front as Punjab Kings (PBKS) kept their playoff hopes alive after defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 6 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 encounter here at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Rahul played a captain's knock of 98* as PBKS chased the target of 135 in just 13 overs. With this emphatic win, PBKS improved their net run-rate, and now has a chance of making the top four. They need a big favour from RR though in the evening game, but the hope remains.
Only two other batters reached the double-figure mark for PBKS as Shardul Thakur scalped three wickets for Chennai and Deepak Chahar returned with one.
Earlier put into bat first, a resilient knock from opener Faf du Plessis helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) post a defendable score of 134/6 in their allotted twenty overs. du Plessis played the most crucial innings of 76 for CSK, as only three other batters reached the double-figure mark for the three-time champions. For Punjab, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan scalped two wickets each while Ravi Bishnoi and Mohammad Shami returned with one apiece.