Chennai Super Kings were in a ferocious contention against the Punjab Kings and in the end it was a narrow escape for the Red army against the might of Yellove as they secured a last ball win yesterday. However, Maheesh Theekshana and his fielding was questioned vehemently as that allowed the Kings to have a late edge as they walked out of the battle with their heads held high.
Chennai batted first and was spearheaded by their opening duo of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad with a fist-pumping display as the two peppered the bowlers to all nooks and crannies of the park. The Kiwi opener was the highest scorer for the Chennai Super Kings with a well-constructed 92 from 52 balls and he stayed unbeaten at the end.
Here is where it all went wrong for Maheesh Theekshana
Shivam Dube chimed in with a crucial knock of 28 from 17 balls that allowed Chennai to pile up 200 for the loss of 4 at the end of their 20 overs. Sikandar Raza was the leading bowler for the Kings with figures of 1 for 31 while Rahul Chahar conceded 35 runs to claim that 1 wicket. Arshdeep Singh kept himself alive in the hunt for the Purple Cap but at the expense of too many runs.
The Punjab Kings were once again led by young guns who would come out with fiery knocks that starred the likes of Prabhsimran Singh who hammered 42 from 24 balls followed by a breezy 40 from Liam Livingstone with the final nail on the coffin coming from Sam Curran who bashed 29 runs from just 20 balls. Tushar Deshpande had another eventful outing with 3 wickets but he went for too many runs. Ravindra Jadeja was phenomenal under the cosh as he claimed 2 for 32.
This is what Twitter had to say about Maheesh Theekshana
Had it not been for Maheesh Theekshana’s costly miss, Chennai Super Kings could very easily have been home. Twitter was very displeased with the Sri Lankan and wanted him out.
Chennai should play Santner ahead of Theekshana in the next game, especially in the current form.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) April 30, 2023
Deshpande,Akash,Theekshana in csk : pic.twitter.com/dD7acWDKjC
— Joнɴ Cυrry 🛃 (@JohnyyBoy_) May 1, 2023
Next Match
Theekshana Out – Santner IN
Pathirana Makes Impact – STOKES IN (BAT Only)
Rasheed Should Be In Play 11 Rayudu To Be OUT.
Please make it happen @ChennaiIPL
— 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓀 (@Ashw__SK) May 1, 2023
Theekshana, Moeen ali after watching this Sandeep Sharma's catch! pic.twitter.com/2E0x7SN5zF
— sarKarSthik (@kidnanaai) April 30, 2023
#PlayingXI
If batting first then
Theekshana out, Santa in and ali out, magala or pretorious in.CSK need magala or pretorious to support pathirana while defending a target.
If bowling first then
Theekshana out, Santa in and ali out, stokes in if chasing.@ChennaiIPL #CSK 🦁💛— Vigneshwar GK (@gkvicky7) May 1, 2023
Replace Theekshana with Santner. Moeen with Pretorious. pic.twitter.com/G6SO0upXPm
— SG 🦁 (@shameer_gani) May 1, 2023
But , its high time to replace theekshana with santner .
Thushar with Rajvardhan
For god sake pls don’t promote Jadeja man is just taking 1’s and 2’s in the depth for the last 2-3 matches. We can understand MS not 100%, but he is still hitting the ball hard. pic.twitter.com/F0vsNZClsB
— reshab_27 (@reshab_27) May 1, 2023
Here's some thoughts of mine….
My blood boils when ball go towards Theekshana…He is a horrible horrible fielder…
And the only thing we can do is add Santa to team, and Rasheed/Senapati in place of Rayudu and Moeen will be in team… pic.twitter.com/13aGGarOyO
— Shreya Siky (@shreya_siky) May 1, 2023