Wily Punjab Kings spinner Yuzvendra Chahal played a big part in snuffing out the Chennai Super Kings’ playoff chances on Wednesday when he snapped a hattrick against the MS Dhoni-led side. Chahal, who had yielded 23 runs in his first 2 overs, snapped up 4 wickets in the 19th over, restricting CSK to 190 runs.
“I knew Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) was there, so was (Shivam) Dube. But I had a feeling that I would get a wicket in this over. I didn’t think much whether they would hit me for six, I just planned to bowl my best and keep changing my lines,” Chahal said in a post-match interaction with skipper , in a video posted on the website.
“I knew after the pacers finish their quotas I will bowl the 19th or 20th over, so I was preparing accordingly. I saw the slower deliveries from the pacers were gripping (fas raha tha) slightly and not coming on to the bat.” Asked if he had a specific plan for the hat-trick ball, he said: “I didn’t think of getting him out, I knew he would try to hit me and I thought it’s okay if he goes after me,” he added.
The hattrick happened in the 19th over which ’s captain MS Dhoni started with a six before falling to Chahal in the second delivery. New man would take 2 runs off the third delivery before he was caught by Priyansh Arya for just 2. Next came Anshul Kamboj who whose stumps were rattled by the bowler for 0. The last wicket of the hattrick was of Noor Ahmad who tried to take on Chahal and just holed out to Marco Jansen in the deep for another duck.
The 34-year-old, who last played a T20I for India in August 2023, has been a standout performer this season. He had earlier taken 4/28 against , a spell that saw collapse to 95 all out while chasing a paltry 112.
