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Chasing 201 for a win, Punjab Kings needed nine off the final over bowled by Matisha Pathirana, who conceded just two runs in the first three balls. But Raza remained calm under immense pressure and scored two runs each in the next two balls.
Raza (13 not out) sent the last ball towards the boundary but Mahesh Tikshana stopped it just short of the ropes in a brilliant fielding effort, but by that time the PBKS batsmen had completed three runs by the time the domestic side at Chepauk The audience could not keep silence.
Punjab finished as 201 for 6 Prabhsimran Singh (42) liam livingstone (40), Sam Curran (29) and Jitesh Sharma (21) playing key roles as CSK openers devon conwayHis brilliant innings of 92 not out went in vain.
The Punjab batsmen did well to seal the win as victory looked elusive in the middle overs before Livingstone and Curran turned things around. Tushar Deshpande’s 24 runs in the 16th over proved crucial in the final analysis.
With 22 needed off 12 balls, Jitesh Sharma (21 off 10 balls) hit a four off the first ball and took two off the next. He was caught in the deep off the fourth ball by substitute Sheikh Rashid. The third umpire declared the batsman out when the fielder caught the ball and fell back close to the boundary rope.
Deshpande took three wickets for 49 runs in his four overs while Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets for 32 runs in his quota of four overs.
The Punjab batsmen got off to a brisk start to the chase with skipper Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Prabhsimran Singh falling prey to Deshpande. The openers scored 50 runs in the powerplay. Dhawan’s attempt to cut down the in-field saw him top-edge off Mathisha Pathirana.
Prabhsimran and Atharva Tayde (13) added 44 runs in quick time and the latter became Jadeja’s first victim. Prabhasimran jumped out of the crease and saw the ball turn slightly, beating him to complete a simple stumping for Dhoni.
Tayde was on the next wicket off Jadeja for 13 and Punjab’s score was 94 for 3 in the 11th over.
Things seemed to be slipping away from the PBKS as the batsmen didn’t get big overs and the required run-rate kept climbing. But Raza and M Shahrukh Khan (2 not out) scored 15 off eight balls to see PBKS cross the target.
Earlier, CSK scored 200 for 4 with the help of Conway’s brilliant unbeaten 92 runs. Dhoni raised the spirits of the home crowd by hitting two sixes in the last two balls.
Talisman Dhoni went on to a huge roar from the crowd at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja (12). He failed to connect the first ball of Sam Curran (4-0-46-1) and took a single off the next ball and smashed one down the ground.
A delivery later, Dhoni hit a six over a wide delivery and then bowled a full toss to end the CSK innings in style by scoring a maximum of 13 runs.
Deciding to bat first, Conway, who hit 16 fours and a six during his unbeaten 52-ball innings, and his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad (37) put on 86 runs for the first wicket to take the home side to a decent score .
Curran, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh and Sikandar Raza took one wicket each for Punjab.
Conway and Gaikwad continued their impressive form with the bat, putting on 50 runs in the sixth over to get the team off to another strong start.
Conway continued to bat fluently, hitting two fours in Kagiso Rabada’s first over. He hit two consecutive fours in the sixth over bowled by Curran as CSK gradually increased the momentum. 57 runs were scored in the powerplay as the Punjab Kings bowlers struggled to make an impact.
Gaikwad fell against the run of play when he was stumped by Jitesh Sharma for 37 off Sikandar Raza.
Big-hitting Shivam Dube was pushed up the order and hit two massive sixes, including one off Rabada. He added 44 runs in 26 balls with Conway to help the Super Kings progress.
Dube looked good for more when he went for a big hit, getting caught by Shah Rukh Khan in the deep for 28 off just 17 balls.
(With inputs from PTI)