Chennai Super Kings (CSK) perfectly avenged their Chepauk loss with a convincing 28-run victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Dharamsala on May 5. with this win CSK ended their five-match losing streak against PBKS. Notably CSK suffered a defeat at their home turf in Chepauk in their last encounter against PBKS. However, CSK might have won the match but Harshal Patel hogged limelight by dismissing MS Dhoni for a golden duck. But what caught everyone's attention was the way he refrained from celebrating CSK legend's wicket.
In a display of sportsmanship, PBKS' star pacer bowler Harshal Patel revealed he refrained from celebrating after dismissing CSK's superstar wicketkeeper-batter Dhoni in their recent IPL encounter. The right-arm pacer outsmarted Dhoni with a cunning slower ball, sending the veteran batsman back for a golden duck.
The arrival of Dhoni at the crease in the 19th over sent a wave of excitement through the Dharamsala crowd. However, Patel's clever bowling proved too much for the iconic cricketer, leaving the fans silenced but earning the respect of his opponent.
Harshal Patel discloses why he didn't celebrate Dhoni's dismissal
"Definitely bit on the drier side, we felt that and even when we hit on the hard length, it wasn't going as fast as we were bowling, it's not stopping but definitely a slower one. (On MS's dismissal) I have too much respect for him to celebrate when I get him out," said Patel in the mid-innings show.
When asked about the secret behind his impressive swing, Patel said:
"One of the advantages of day game is, the square is quite rough, when I came into bowl the first, the ball started reversing and it drifted away a bit and it made things harder for the batter. I was not really confident with those, initially I haven't been bowling for over a year but I've been working on it, there's no technique to it but when it comes out, it's good as the batters mostly don't pick it," he added.
How the PBKS vs CSK's match unfolded
Batting first after losing the toss to PBKS skipper Sam Curran, CSK's opening woes continued as Ajinkya Rahane fell cheaply. A glimmer of hope emerged with a 57-run partnership between skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell. However, a contentious LBW decision sent Mitchell back to the pavilion.
The dismissal triggered a CSK batting collapse. Yet, some late innings heroics from Shardul Thakur (17 off 11) and Ravindra Jadeja (43 off 26) with his rescuing act steered CSK to a respectable total of 167 runs. In reply, PBKS suffered a batting collapse as none of their batters could surpass 30-run mark as they surrendered to 139/9 handing CSK an easy 28-run win, thanks to Jadeja's impressive three-fer.
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