IPL 2021, CSK vs PBKS as it happened: KL Rahul puts on a show as PBKS win by 6 wickets

PBKS 139/4 after 13 overs: KL Rahul hits his 8th six to take PBKS to a big win. The PBKS skipper finishes with 98 off 42 balls. What a knock!

PBKS 126/4 after 12.1 overs: WICKET! Thakur gets another one. Markram edges that to the keeper. Markram c Dhoni b Thakur 13(8)

PBKS 126/3 after 12 overs: 88 off 40 balls for Rahul. Some really glorious shots on display. All around the ground. Punjab Kings need 9 runs in 48 balls,

PBKS 106/3 after 11 overs: A fabulous six down the ground to start the over by Rahul and nothing much after that. Still PBKS are in complete control but they needed more runs at this point.

PBKS 92/3 after 10 overs: The runs continue to flow. Markram with a big six of his own. PBKS have shown great intent today.

PBKS 80/3 after 9 overs: WICKET! Shahrukh caught in the deep. It was short and hit the toe end of the bat. Shahrukh Khan c Dwayne Bravo b Chahar 8(10)

PBKS 71/2 after 8 overs: Rahul gets to his 27th IPL fifty off just 25 balls. A superb innings by the skipper. But PBKS need to find another level here. Can Shahrukh get going to... he started off with a six in the over.

PBKS 62/2 after 7 overs: Rahul continues to play the big shots and he is, as he so often does, making it look easy. 49 off 24 balls for the Punjab skipper.

PBKS 51/2 after 6 overs: Rahul has 38 off 18 but no one else has got going for Punjab. The loss of Agarwal’s wicket is a big one as he has been one of their in-form batters.

PBKS 46/2 after 5 overs: WICKET! Top edge and Sarfaraz is gone for a duck. Second consecutive duck. Sarfaraz Khan c du Plessis b Thakur 0(3)

PBKS 46/1 after 4.3 overs: WICKET! Thakur into the attack and he gets a wicket right away. Traps Agarwal LBW. They didn’t take a review but they should have. Replays showed the ball would have gone down the leg side. Mayank lbw b Thakur 12(12)

PBKS 42/0 after 4 overs: 1, 4, 4, 0, 6, 0. Rahul cutting loose and it is so nice to see him play like this.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: If PBKS chase this down in 12 overs (if they want to), their NRR goes up to 0.014. Then a 70-run win for Rajasthan plus just a defeat for MI would be enough for them to qualify. For what it’s worth...

PBKS 27/0 after 3 overs: 14 off the Chahar over. Rahul got a six early and then Mayank with a four later in the over. Chahar not bowling to the field.

PBKS 13/0 after 2 overs: Super over from Hazlewood. Just two runs. There was also a short ball that went off the edge and thudded into Rahul’s helmet. Left a small bump on the head.

PBKS 11/0 after 1 over: If Punjab want to win this quickly... they need to have a great Powerplay. Can they make it happen? Can they keep it up for 6 overs?

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul are in the middle. PBKS need a big win... they need a quick win.

CSK 134/6 after 20 overs: CKS have somehow managed to get a decent total on board. Faf held the innings together and a nice late rush gives their bowlers something to defend.

17th over – 10 runs
18th over – 12 runs
19th over – 10 runs
20th over – 16 runs

CSK 128/6 after 19.3 overs: WICKET! Four off the first ball, six off the second, gone off the third. Faf falls after a brilliant 76 off 55. He held the innings together for CSK. du Plessis c Rahul b Shami 76(55)

CSK 118/5 after 19 overs: Faf finally finding some timing on this wicket and this is exactly what CSK needed.

CSK 108/5 after 18 overs: Faf gets a fifty off 46 balls. Slow going but a vital knock and then he follows it up with two fours. Two overs to go... how much more can CSK get?

CSK 96/5 after 17 overs: Runs starting to flow a bit now but perhaps too late in the day. Faf got a life when Arshdeep failed to hold on to a return chance. Not easy but it might have helped PBKS even more.

CSK 86/5 after 16 overs: Steady stuff from CSK. Too steady. The pitch isn’t easy but CSK have lost their way today.

CSK 82/5 after 15 overs: Faf is still there in the middle and he will hope to get some support from Jadeja.

CSK 75/5 after 14 overs: A four for Jadeja to kickstart his innings. Doesn’t seem like the easiest pitch to bat on but Chennai need to get at least 130 on the board.

CSK 61/5 after 12.1 overs: WICKET! Bishnoi’s googly gets Dhoni. Once again… the googly proves to be deadly. The CSK skipper just didn’t read it. Brilliant bowling. Dhoni b Ravi Bishnoi 12(15)

CSK 55/4 after 11 overs: Harpreet back into the attack and he does well. Just two runs (including one wide) from the over.

CSK 53/4 after 10 overs: Dhoni gets an early four... how CSK and all his fans would love to see him get going today.

CSK 42/4 after 8.3 overs: WICKET! Rayudu gone too. Jodan strikes again as CSK sink deeper into trouble. A bit too high and fast for Rayudu, who had no control. Caught in the deep. Rayudu c Arshdeep Singh b Jordan 4(5)

CSK 39/3 after 8 overs: Bishnoi in the attack and he starts off by conceding six runs in the over.

CSK 32/3 after 6.5 overs: WICKET! Harpreet takes a superb catch in the deep, Uthappa gone too. The sun was in his eyes but he did a good job. Wicket to Jordan. CSK in trouble trouble now... can they find a way out of this? Uthappa c Harpreet Brar b Jordan 2(6)

CSK 29/2 after 5.4 overs: WICKET! The over started with two four for Faf but Arshdeep has got some measure of revenge. Off the fourth ball, he’s sent back Moeen. In the corridor and it seemed to bounce a little more too. The left-hander edged it to Rahul. Moeen Ali c Rahul b Arshdeep Singh 0(6)

CSK 20/1 after 5 overs: Superb over by Shami – 3 overs for just 6 runs today. CSK need a big over next to make something of this Powerplay.

CSK 18/1 after 3.5 overs: WICKET! Rahul goes to Arshdeep after one over from Harpreet and it does the trick. The left-armer gets the big wicket. The short ball does the damage – not quick but accurate and it got big on the batter. Gaikwad walking back after making 12. Ruturaj Gaikwad c Shahrukh Khan b Arshdeep Singh 12(14)

CSK 13/0 after 3 overs: Another splendid over by Shami. Keeping things tight for PBKS early on.

CSK 11/0 after 2 overs: Harpreet into the attack and Gaikwad took him on right away with a lofted four off the first ball. Eight runs from the over.

CSK 3/0 after 1 over: Steady start by Shami. Just three runs from the over.

Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad are out in the middle for CSK. We are all set for the match to begin.

Squads: CSK are unchanged. One change for PBKS, Chris Jordan comes in for Nicholas Pooran.

Punjab Kings XI: KL Rahul, M Agarwal, A Markram, S Khan, SN Khan, M Henriques, H Brar, C Jordan, M Shami, R Bishnoi, A Singh.

Chennai Super Kings XI: F du Plessis, R Gaikwad, R Uthappa, M Ali, A Rayudu, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, DJ Bravo, S Thakur, D Chahar, J Hazlewood.

Will Dhoni be around next season? “You’ll see me in yellow next season but whether I’ll be playing for CSK you never know. There are a lot of uncertainties coming up, two new teams are coming, we don’t know what the retention rules are and so on,” said Dhoni after the toss.

Dhoni: Considering the heat, we would have bowled too.

TOSS: PBKS have won the toss and they are going to bowl first.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of match no 53 of IPL 2021. CSK are sitting pretty at the moment – a place in the playoffs is already confirmed and a win today will make sure of their spot in the top two. Theoretically, PBKS aren’t out of it yet and a win today will take them level with KKR and MI on 12 points but the big difference between the three teams is the NRR. KKR have zoomed ahead in that regard and it will be tough for Rahul and Co to claw back into the game with just one game left to play. Still, all teams would like to end the tournament on a winning note. For CSK, there are still matches to be played after this but for PBKS, the IPL 2021 journey will most probably end today.