Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 5 : Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowler Tushar Deshpande said they "badly" wanted to win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Sunday.
The Chennai-based franchise clinched a 28-run victory over PBKS at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
Deshpande displayed a stunning comeback on the field on Sunday after missing CSK's last match due to flu. He picked up two wickets and gave 35 runs in his four-over spell.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Deshpande said he was "happy" to beat PBKS in a low-scoring game.
"I'm very happy today as it was a low-scoring game in terms of the matches going on. This was the game we wanted to win badly," Deshpande said.
The 28-year-old added the pitch in Dharamsala was a bit slow during the game.
"It was a crunch game for us and to start well was very important. Dharamsala at high altitude the ball does something and my job at the front was to take wickets and it went well today. It was a bit slow, the pitch was quite stopping a bit. If you hit the length hard, it was not easy to hit the horizontal bat shots so we just backed our length and kept it simple. Just tried to hit the top of off with the new ball," he added
Summarizing the match, PBKS won the toss and elected to field first. CSK lost their wickets at regular intervals. It was knocks from Ravindra Jadeja (43), Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) that took CSK to a respectable 167/9 in their 20 overs.
Rahul Chahar (3/23) and Harshal Patel (3/24) were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Arshdeep Singh got two wickets while Sam Curran got a wicket too.
In the run-chase, PBKS lost two wickets early, with Tushar Deshpande (2/35) striking for Men in Yellow, but Prabhsimran Singh (30) and Shashank Singh (27) helped them recover with a 53-run partnership. However, Ravindra Jadeja (3/20), Mitchell Santner (1/10) and Simarjeet Singh (2/16) helped CSK make a stunning comeback and restrict Punjab to 139/9 in their 20 overs.
Jadeja received the 'Player of the Match' performance for his three wickets and a knock of 43.
CSK has gone up to third place in the points table with six wins and five losses, giving them 12 points. PBKS is in the eighth spot with four wins, seven losses and just eight points.