Liam Livingstone's all-round effort helped Punjab Kings thrash defending champions Chennai Super Kings by 54 runs at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. This was Chennai's third straight loss in this year's IPL.
Chasing a competitive 181-run target, CSK were off to the worst possible start as they lost four wickets inside the powerplay. They never recovered from the early blows and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Shivam Dube's power-hitting showed a glimmer of hope for the Chennai fans but Livingstone's exceptional bowling performance ended all hopes for the defending champions. Livingstone removed Dube and Bravo off consecutive deliveries as the required rate soared past 16 runs per over. Dhoni played a 23 run knock and perished in search of a big hits.
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Earlier, Punjab were off to a horrid start too as they lost captain Mayank Agarwal and Bhanuka Rajapaksa early. But Liam Livingstone came to the rescue and justified his Rs 11.50 crore price tag. He smashed 60 runs off 32 deliveries before Jadeja ended his stay in the middle. Livingstone was supported by Shikhar Dhawan as the duo stitched a 95-run stand for the third wicket.
However, Punjab were not able to finish their innings on a high given middle-order failed to make any impression against Chennai bowlers, who conceded only 71 runs in the last 10 Overs. Dwaine Pretorius and Chris Jordan kept things tight in the death overs and took two wickets apiece.