For the fifth time in a row in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Punjab Kings registered a victory against Chennai Super Kings, this time beating the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side by 7 wickets. Although Punjab have not had the best of the IPL 2024 campaign, managing just four wins in ten matches, they could not resist the opportunity to troll the Super Kings after dominating them on another occasion. In a series of social media posts, PBKS wrote 'Thala for a reason', making references to the number 7.
Initially, PBKS trolled CSK after exhausting Dhoni in the match. When Dhoni became the 7th wicket of the Kings' innings, they wrote, “Dhoni was our 7th wicket today! Thala for a reason!”
Dhoni was our 7th wicket today!
Thala for a reason!
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 1, 2024
Later, referring to their own position in the points table, 7, Punjab Kings again wrote “Thala for a reason”.
Our position in the points table!
Thala for a reason! pic.twitter.com/nKWjZFm10u
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 1, 2024
CSK could only muster a sub-par 162/7. Gaikwad made a fine 62 but other batters struggled with accurate spin bowling from Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar.
CSK had to make two changes for the match as their Sri Lankan pacer Pathirana had an issue and Deshpande was not feeling well.
Replacements Richard Gleeson and Shardul Thakur failed to impress as heavy dew fell during PBKS' chase.
“It's a real problem (without Pathirana and Deshpande). There are phases when you want to get a wicket, and you have only two bowlers, and the spinners are ruled out because of the dew. There's not much I can do,” Gaikwad said during the presentation after the match.
The skipper added that the dew aggravated CSK's problem as they tried to restrict PBKS batters.
“It's very difficult. Even in the last game we were quite surprised that we would win by such a margin.
“This (dew) is something we have no control over. We can bat a little better in the first innings. In the last two matches we have tried our best to get 200-210. It was difficult to get 180 in this one pitch,” he said.
Gaikwad said another 50-60 runs would have made the difference.
“50-60 runs short to be honest. When we batted first the pitch wasn't great, plus the dew too (in the second innings).”
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