Deepak Chahar opening blitz gives CSK their first victory

After five last-over finishes in the IPL, we finally have our first blowout victory and one-sided game of the tournament as the Chennai Super Kings beat the Punjab Kings by six wickets to register their first victory of IPL 2021. The game was pretty much over within the first half-hour itself as Deepak Chahar ran through Punjab’s top order with some dazzling seam bowling. The Chennai bowler made full use of the helpful conditions at the Wankhede and picked up 4 wickets at the top of the order which put the game to bed.

His first wicket of Mayank Agarwal was every fast bowler’s dream delivery with the ball pitching on a good length, swinging in and seaming away to hit the top of off. He followed that up with a couple of excellent knuckleballs to get rid of the dangerous Chris Gayle and Deepak Hooda and a well-directed bouncer to remove Nicholas Pooran for his second consecutive duck in the tournament. To make matters worse, KL Rahul was also run-out in and amongst the carnage thanks to an effortless direct hit
from one of the best fielders in the world, Ravindra Jadeja.

Deepak Chahar bowled his entire quota of four overs on the trot and at the end of his spell, the Punjab Kings were reeling at 26-5 with the game pretty much won. Considering Punjab dug themselves into a hole at the start, they did well to eventually bat out the entire 20 overs and not get all-out. The Kings eventually clawed their way to a respectable total of 106 after some lusty blows and smart batting from newcomer Shahrukh Khan who scored 47.

Nevertheless, that total was never going to be enough on this wicket and Chennai were able to chase it down with 4 overs to spare which provides a significant boost to their net run rate. Moeen Ali, in particular, made that number three spot his own and played with great intent to score 46 from 31 deliveries and seal the victory for the Men in Yellow.

With this win, CSK are off the mark in IPL 2021 and already look a much more settled unit compared to the team that struggled in the UAE. Punjab, on the other hand, will be demoralised by this defeat and in particular the form of their key overseas players Nicholas Pooran and Jhye Richardson who have had a less than ideal start to the tournament.