Leaders Online Desk: Punjab Kings defeated Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets on the strength of Jonny Bairstow and Riley Rosso's excellent batting. This is Punjab's second win in a row. Earlier, the team defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Batting first, Chennai scored 162 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs on the strength of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad's 62 runs. In reply, Bairstow scored 46 and Riley Rossow scored 43 for Punjab as Punjab cruised to victory by 163 for three in 17.5 overs.
Earlier, batting first, Chennai got off to a strong start with the opening pair of Rituraj and Ajinkya Rahane. Both shared a partnership of 64 runs for the first wicket. This partnership was broken by Harpreet Brar who dismissed Rahane who returned to the pavilion for 29 runs.
After this, Brar made Shivam Dube his victim in the same over. He returned to the pavilion without opening the account. Chennai's innings collapsed after Chahar dismissed Jadeja. Chennai did not get off to a good start and lost three wickets for just six runs.
While wickets were falling on one side, captain Rituraj once again scored a half-century with a restrained innings. It was on the strength of Rituraj's innings that the team managed to cross the mark of 150 runs. He was supported by Sameer Rizvi and Moeen Ali, but Chennai's batting could not score much against the Punjab bowlers. In the end Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit some shots but was run out while taking two runs off the last ball. This ended the Chennai innings at 162 runs.
