KL Rahul led from the front by scoring a scintillating 98 as Punjab Kings defeated the Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets in Dubai on Thursday.
After being asked to bat by PBKS skipper, Chennai suffered a body blow when the in form Ruturaj Gaikwad (12) top edged a Arshdeep Singh pull to Shahrukh Khan at midwicket.
Arshdeep claimed his second wicket by dismissing Moeen Ali caught behind the stumps for a duck.
Chris Jordan then got into the act by claiming the wickets of Robin Uthappa (2) and Ambati Rayudu (4) in quick succession leaving CSK in trouble at 42/4.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s poor run continued as he was bowled by Ravi Bishnoi’s googly for 12.
The pair of Faf Du Plessis along with Ravindra Jadeja featured in a 67 run stand for the sixth wicket before the former was dismissed by Mohammed Shami for a quickfire 76.
His knock came off 55 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes, as Super Kings posted 134/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
For Punjab Kings Arshdeep and Jordan claimed 2 wickets each.
Chasing 135, Punjab opening pair of Rahul and Mayank Agarwal got their side off to a quickfire start. The duo added 46 runs for the first wicket.
Shardul Thakur struck twice in his first over- By claiming Agarwal leg before wicket and then dismissing Sarfaraz Khan for a duck.
Rahul and Aiden Markram added 46 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter edged one behind the stumps for 13 to give Thakur his third wicket.
The 29 year old Karnataka batsman remained unbeaten on 98 off 42 balls as Punjab overhauled the target of 136 with seven overs to spare.