Gaikwad's Half-Century Rescues Fragile CSK, Guides Them to 162/7 Against PBKS

CSK struggled on a sluggish Chepauk pitch, posting only 162/7 against Punjab Kings. Gaikwad top-scored with a patient 62, but spinners Brar and Chahar stifled CSK's middle overs, taking 4/33. Early wickets and a lack of boundaries restricted the team's scoring rate. CSK managed 60 runs in the last five overs, including Gaikwad's third successive fifty.

Ruturaj Gaikwad braved a sluggish Chepauk pitch and accurate Punjab Kings spinners to make a solid fifty but Chennai Super Kings could only post a modest 162 for seven in their IPL match here on Wednesday.

Once they were asked to bat first, skipper Gaikwad (62, 48b, 5x4, 2x6) and his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (29, 24b) added 61 runs for the opening wicket but they consumed 49 balls for it.

There were flashes of intent too in their alliance, though.

Gaikwad played a fine upper cut off Arshdeep Singh for a boundary over the slips and Rahane creamed three fours in a row off Sam Curran, including a lovely cover drive. But they were too far and few in between to make a real impact.

The slide of CSK began once PBKS brought their spinners on immediately after the Power Play that yielded 55 for no loss.

Rahane tried to slog sweep Harpreet Brar but his skier ended in the hands of Rilee Rossouw in the deep.

But the left-arm spinner inflicted a bigger blow in the next delivery, trapping Shivam Dube, who was named in India's T20 World Cup squad, leg before for a first-ball duck.

Dube, promoted to No. 3 to counter spin, failed to connect an almighty heave off a fuller ball on the middle-stump by Brar, and he had to walk back despite seeking help from DRS.

In the next over, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar got rid of Ravindra Jadeja, who was deceived by a delivery that turned into him a whisker to beat his prod.

It was a totals shutdown for CSK in that phase between sixth and 10th over, losing three wickets for just 16 runs.

For a team that generally bosses the middle passage between the seventh and 15th over at a run-rate of 10.6, the CSK was a shadow of their marauding self, managing just 47 runs in that period against PBKS.

A big chunk of credit should go to two Punjab spinners -- Brar and Chahar -- who exploited a slow track to the hilt to return with combined figures of 33 in eight overs for four wickets.

They did not concede a single boundary in their spell.

It was always going to be tough for Chennai to claw back from that position.

Gaikwad did his best, using his timing and good array of shots against pacers Harshal Patel and Curran to reach his fifty in 44 balls.

The right-hander brought up his third fifty in a row in this IPL with a well-timed six off Curran over long-on and it was also the first six in CSK innings as they took 20 runs of that over.

CSK made 60 runs in the last five overs as Moeen Ali (15, 9b) helped Gaikwad to add 38 runs for the fifth wicket.

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