Rahul Chahar produced a strong bowling display as Punjab Kings defeated the Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets.
Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran lauded Rahul Chahar for his sensational performance against the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Curran played the gamble of bowling a leggie against the in-form Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the 19th over. The former CSK skipper had been unbeaten for seven straight games before the clash, and bowling against him towards the end of the innings looked like a tall order.
Punjab Kings’ captain Sam Curran shakes hands with Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni after Punjab Kings won the Indian Premier League cricket match(AP)
However, Chahar held his nerve as he kept the bowling tight to concede only 3 runs in the penultimate over. The leg-spinner turned out to be the bowler with the best figures from his side in the match as he picked two wickets by giving away only 16 runs at an economy of 4.00. His exceptional bowling at the death helped the team restrict the hosts to 162, which the PBKS managed to chase with 13 balls to spare.
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Curran said that he backed Chahar due to his confidence as he asked him to bowl the 19th over against Dhoni.
“Chahar came back and was the best bowler in the 260 game, and he’s bowling with great confidence. He stepped up when I asked him to bowl against MSD in the 19th over,” Curran said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
The Englishman also said that the pacers had been leaking many runs at the death and wanted to try something different.
“The pace bowlers were going for a bit in the end, and I wanted to try something different. Asked Rilee (Rossouw) what he reckoned and took that gamble with spin. In this game where everyone has been going for runs, you need to take such gambles,” he said.
“Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We come against the same opposition, so we have one up on them. It is a new game; new conditions but this win will give us a lot of confidence,” Curran added.
The PBKS registered their fifth consecutive win against CSK over the years, keeping their hopes alive in the playoffs race. The 2014 runner-ups are currently in the seventh spot in the table with four wins from 10 matches and 8 points in the bank
