All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja starred with bat and ball as defending champions Chennai Super Kings thrashed Punjab Kings by 28 runs to boost their IPL play-off hopes on Sunday.
Left-hander Jadeja top-scored with 43 off 26 balls to guide Chennai to 167-9 after being invited to bat first in Punjab's adopted home ground of Dharamsala.
Jadeja then returned figures of 3-20 from his four overs of left-arm spin to help restrict Punjab to 139-9 for Chennai's sixth win in 11 matches as they climbed to third in the table. The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on May 26 in Chennai.
The performance from the veteran Jadeja comes as a welcome sign ahead of the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and the US.
Chennai suffered an early blow with Sri Lanka pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana set to return home due to a hamstring injury.
Pathirana, called “Baby Malinga” for his slinging action modelled on former Sri Lanka quick Lasith Malinga, was Chennai's standout bowler and took 13 wickets in six matches.
But medium-pace bowler Tushar Deshpande took on the responsibility in the absence of Pathirana and injured Deepak Chahar as he struck twice in his first over and Punjab's second in the chase.
Deshpande sent Jonny Bairstow, bowled for seven, and then Rilee Rossouw, bowled for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion in the space of four balls.
Prabhsimran Singh, who made 30, and Shahshank Singh, who hit 27, attempted to rebuild in their stand of 53 but their departure triggered a collapse.
Jadeja struck regular blows including skipper Sam Curran to rattle the middle-order and derail the opposition chase.
Earlier Chennai suffered from a lack of partnerships despite a second-wicket stand between skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hit 32, and Daryl Mitchell, who struck 30.
Jadeja took charge and with some help from the middle order as he took Chennai to a par total at the picturesque ground overlooking the Himalayas.
But the Sunday crowd were left disappointed when veteran MS Dhoni was bowled for a first ball duck off a slower ball from Harshal Patel, who, along with Rahul Chahal, took three wickets.
Jadeja smashed three fours and two sixes before departing in the 20th over, caught by Curran off the bowling of left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh.
Deshpande, who was returning to action after a bout of flu, said: “I’m very happy today because it was a low-scoring game and this was the game we wanted to win badly.
“It was such a crunch game today and for us to start well was very important. As we know at Dharamsala at high altitude the ball does something so it was my job at the front to take wickets and it went well today.”
Punjab skipper Curran said: “The surface was a lot slower than we expected it to be. We’ve got to move on and keep fighting hard. It wasn’t meant to be today but we’ll hopefully get a win in the next game [against Royal Challengers Bengaluru].”
Punjab sit in eighth place in the table with just eight points after 11 games.
