Chennai: Chennai Super Kings’ journey in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 came to a disappointing end as they became the first team to be officially eliminated from the playoff race following a thrilling four-wicket loss to Punjab Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Wednesday.
This marks a historic low for the MS Dhoni-led franchise, as they have now failed to make it to the playoffs in two consecutive seasons – something that had never happened before in the team’s illustrious history.
Batting first at Chepauk, CSK rode on a magnificent knock by Sam Curran, who scored a fluent 88 off just 47 balls, featuring nine fours and four sixes. Coming in at a precarious 48 for 3 in the power-play, Curran took charge of the innings and stitched a vital 78-run stand with Dewald Brevis (32), steadying the ship and lifting CSK towards a competitive total.
Curran’s strokeplay was at its peak in the 16th over when he took young Suryansh Shedge to the cleaners, smashing him for 26 runs, including two sixes and two boundaries. The English all-rounder looked set to take CSK past 200, but he perished in the 18th over, gloving a bouncer from Marco Jansen.
Just when CSK seemed to be setting up a strong finish, Yuzvendra Chahal turned the game on its head. The leg-spinner, who had bowled just two overs until the 19th, returned to bowl the penultimate over and scripted a remarkable collapse.
After being hit for a six by Dhoni, Chahal dismissed him the very next ball. What followed was a procession – Deepak Hooda, Anshul Kamboj, and Noor Ahmad all fell in quick succession as Chahal picked up a sensational hat-trick, his second in the IPL, to restrict CSK to 190.
In reply, Punjab Kings started brightly, with opener Prabhsimran Singh setting the tone with a 36-ball 54. He combined well with captain Shreyas Iyer, who held one end and paced his innings perfectly with a 41-ball 72.
Despite losing a few wickets in the middle overs, including the well-set Prabhsimran and Shashank Singh (23), PBKS remained calm. Iyer’s composed acceleration and a bit of luck at the death helped Punjab chase down the target in 19.4 overs.
(IANS)
