Mumbai, (Asian independent) A brilliant rearguard half-century by Liam Livingstone and a superb performance by bowlers helped Punjab Kings thrash Chennai Supers Kings by 54 runs in their IPL 2022 match at the Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday.
Livingstone blasted a 32-ball 60 and shared a 95-run partnership with opener Shikhar Dhawan (33) as Punjab Kings posted 180/8 in 20 overs.
The bowlers then kept up the good work and rattled Chennai Super Kings early on.
Himachal pacer Vaibhav Arora claimed two wickets on his IPL debut while Kagiso Rabada, Odean Smith and Arshdeep Singh got a wicket each as CSK were reduced to 36/5 in the 8th over.
Rabada started the carnage as Ruturaj Gaikwad pushed at a fuller delivery without moving his feet much and handed a simple catch to Dhawan at first slip.
Arora then sent back the dangerous Robin Uthappa as he tried to flick a length ball to the leg-side and top-edged it — Mayank Agarwal pouched the skier running in from mid-off. CSK were down to 3-22 as Moeen Ali dragged a slightly wide one by Arora onto his stumps.
Skipper Ravindra Jadeja, too, played on a length delivery from Arshadeep Singh that nipped back and deflected into the stumps off his thigh pad. And it was soon 36/5 for Chennai Super Kings as Ambati Rauydu was caught behind off Smith.
Shivam Dube struck a 30-ball 57 and former skipper MS Dhoni scored 23 but their efforts were too little and too late as Punjab Kings romped to their second win in the event.
Rahul Chahar claimed 3/25 and Livingstone 2/25 to clean up the CSK tail and hand Punjab Kings their second win of IPL 2022. CSK slumped to their third defeat in the event and are still searching to get their combination right and claim first points.
Earlier, Livingstone smashed five boundaries and five sixes in his innings and rescued Punjab Kings, with the support of Dhawan, from a precarious position of 14/2 in the second over.
Asked to bat first, Punjab lost skipper Mayank Agarwal off the second ball of the match after he hit Mukesh Choudhary for a four.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who struck a nine-ball 31 in the previous outing, went for a non-existent run after hitting Chris Jordan for a six and was caught short by Dhoni.
But Livingstone was in a different mood on Sunday. He was very severe on Mukesh Choudhary, pulling him over fine leg for a six and driving him over extra cover for a four in the bowler’s second over.
He handed Choudhary the same treatment in his next over too, pulling a length ball over deep mid-wicket for a six and following it up with a boundary over mid-off a ball later. He blasted him for two more fours off successive balls in the same over as Punjab Kings crossed 50 in the fifth over with Livingstone blazing to 32 off 12 deliveries.
The 28-year-old England batter welcomed Ravindra Jadeja by depositing his first delivery of the match over the sightscreen. He went on to complete his half-century off 27 deliveries before getting out a few balls later, caught by Rayudu at short third man as he sliced a thick edge off a faster one by Jadeja.
Punjab Kings could not capitlaise on the platform provided by Livingstone and Dhawan and managed only 180/8. But in the end that proved sufficient thanks to a superb effort by their bowlers.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 180/8 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 60, Shikhar Dhawan 33; Chris Jordan 2/23, Dwaine Pretorius 2/30) beat Chennai Super Kings 126 all out in 18 overs (Shivam Dube 57, MS Dhoni 23; Rahul Chahar 3/25, Vaibhav Arora 2/21, Liam Livingstone 2/25) by 54 runs.
