Chennai: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were blown away in the death overs by Yuzvendra Chahal’s brilliant hat-trick, crumbling from 184/6 to 190 all out in a space of seven deliveries. It was a stunning turnaround, given the platform set by Sam Curran’s dazzling 88 off 47 balls and a gritty half-century by Shivam Dube.
After a quiet start where Shaik Rasheed struggled against the swing of Marco Jansen, CSK found early momentum through Rasheed’s burst of boundaries off Arshdeep Singh. But both Rasheed and Ayush Mhatre fell in quick succession, falling into the traps set by PBKS seamers using cutters and scrambled-seam deliveries.
Ravindra Jadeja looked in fine touch, striking three fours off Harpreet Brar in the final over of the powerplay. However, a sharp review taken by PBKS sent him back for 17, ending the power-play at 48 for 3.
The middle overs saw Curran and Dewald Brevis revive the innings with confident strokeplay, especially against the spinners. Curran took on Brar and Chahal with clean footwork, while Brevis chipped in with a handy 32.
On a slow surface with uneven bounce, PBKS seamers Azmatullah Omarzai and Suryansh Shedge applied the brakes effectively. But once Curran got going again in the 16th over, blasting 26 off Shedge’s third, it looked like CSK would surge past 200.
Curran’s knock was a masterclass in range hitting: he punished anything short with precision pulls and hooks, collecting nine fours and four sixes in total. His dismissal came against the run of play—a faint edge off Jansen while trying to duck a short one.
The stage was set for MS Dhoni, whose arrival triggered deafening roars at Chepauk. He struck Chahal for a trademark six over long-on but fell attempting a similar shot two balls later.
What followed was complete mayhem.
With a wicket already in the over, Chahal dismissed Deepak Hooda and then removed Impact Player Anshul Kamboj on the first ball, foxing him with a skiddy leg-break. On the final ball of the 19th over, he lured Noor Ahmad into a failed big shot, caught smartly by Jansen near the inner ring.
It was a perfect storm at the death — three wickets in three balls, claiming the 11th hat-trick in IPL history, first hat-trick since 2023, and second for Chahal in IPL.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 190 all out in 19.2 overs (Sam Curran 88, Dewald Brevis 32; Yuzvendra Chahal 4-32, Marco Jansen 2-30)_ against Punjab Kings.
(IANS)
