'Fixing karke bhi itna close' - Fans react as Punjab Kings defeat Chennai Super Kings in a last-ball thriller in IPL 2023

With a doubleheader on Sunday, the sixteenth season of the Indian Premier League saw play resume. At Chennai's renowned Chepauk, the Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings squared off in the day's first game. At the same time, Mumbai Indians will play Rajasthan Royals in the second game of the day at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Speaking of the first game, the Chennai Super Kings chose to bat first in front of their own supporters after winning the toss. Batting on a comfortable surface, the Super Kings got off to a strong start with an opening partnership of 86 runs between Devon Conway (92 off 52) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (37 off 31).

Punjab Kings defeated Chennai Super Kings by 4 wickets

MS Dhoni added two consecutive sixes off the final two balls to bring CSK's total to 200 runs, while Shivam Dube added useful 28 runs off 17 balls. Punjab Kings didn't really stand out in terms of their bowling performance. Arshdeep Singh, Sikander Raza, Sam Curran, and Rahul Chahar joined the fray to add one wicket each.

In reply, PBKS started off with a strong opening stand of 50 runs between Prabhsimran Singh (42 off 24) and Shikhar Dhawan (28 off 15). Liam Livingstone contributed with a quickfire 40 off 24 balls, while Sam Curran added 29 off 20. Ultimately, Jitesh Sharma, with 21 off 10, led a final flourish for Sikandar Raza to come in and score 13 off 7 to take PBKS over the finish line by 4 runs. For CSK, Tushar Deshpande completed a three-wicket haul, while Ravindra Jadeja returned with two. Matheesha Pathirana had one scalp from the game.

Next, in the sixteenth edition of the Indian Premier League, Lucknow Super Giants will host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Ekana Sports City Stadium. While LSG moves into this game after a dominant 56-run win over Punjab Kings, the RCB will look to return to winning ways after suffering a 21-run loss in their trip to Kolkata at the hands of KKR.

Here's how fans reacted:

Sikandar Raza a Pakistani. ❤💥✔💯
A one man army 😍

— Wali Rehman (@walirehman903) April 30, 2023

@ChennaiIPL were 15 runs short
Jadeja with bat disappointed
Well played @PunjabKingsIPL jitesh

— taha abbas 🦁 (@tahaabb62883980) April 30, 2023

Lost despite fixing
Let's all laugh at csgayy😂🤣😂😂😭😂😭🤣😂

— sonya (@sonyakapoor11) April 30, 2023

That's why Wicketless economical spell >>>> Expensive wicket taking spell

Eg - Fraud purple cap holder Tushar Deshpande.
&
CSK's game holder Matheesha Pathirana

— Factos (@I_say_factos) April 30, 2023

Vintage csk 😹😹😹

— (#HappyBirthdayGenda45#BlackDay)💖💕💖💖💖 (@Aamirkh5456541) April 30, 2023

Humanity won

— Venkatesh prasaad (@venkey1983) April 30, 2023

Sealed a win with inches of a boundary rope
Wow a classical ipl match after long time pic.twitter.com/X8clio36t9

— jetha hi🏆ler 🐦 (@sterns_haschen) April 30, 2023

Umpires and Srini mama tried their best pic.twitter.com/wK7GUd3WcO

— unknown user (@tamilan_jr) April 30, 2023