IPL 2025, CSK vs PBKS Highlights: PBKS survive late hiccup, CSK knocked out in race for playoffs

IPL 2025, CSK vs PBKS Highlights:

IPL 2025, CSK vs PBKS Highlights: Punjab Kings were clinical throughout the chase but they made an absolute meal of it towards the end. They lost two wickets and took 10 balls to chase down the last six runs but PBKS pulled it off in the end and thus sealed Chennai Super Kings' fate. CSK are the first team to be knocked out in the race for the playoffs this season.

Prabhsimran Singh earlier got a half-century and then fell after which Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer went past the mark himself. The pair put up a 72-run stand for the second wicket. Punjab have stayed on top for much of the chase, despite Khaleel Ahmed dismissing Priyansh Arya early just when the latter was looking set to take off. Captain Shreyas Iyer and Prabhsimran Singh have put more than 50 runs for the second wicket and PBKS seem to be on cruise mode towards the target of 1912.

Yuzvendra Chahal earlier took a hat-trick in the 19th over and finished with as many as four in it to prevent Chennai Super Kings from crossing 200. However, Sam Curran's brilliant knock has still powered them to what seems to be an above par score of 190.

Curran took off just when Chennai Super Kings were staring down the barrel. The all-rounder raced past 50 in 30 balls and then accelerated even further. Curran earlier put up a 78-run stand with Dewald Brevis off 50 balls, which helped CSK recover after they lost three wickets in the powerplay.

CSK's battle for survival hadn't started off too well. Their openers Shaik Rasheed and Ayush Mhatre both fell within the first four overs. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and Punjab Kings are batting first at the Chepauk Stadium. This is it for the Chennai Super Kings. A defeat to the Punjab Kings today will officially rule them out of contention for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs. The five-time champions, and arguably the most succesfull team in the history of IPL by some distance in terms of number of appearances made beyond the group stage, will become the first side to be knocked out of the race for the top four this season.

Rajasthan Royals would've been the first team to be knocked a couple of days back. It took an innings of such epic proportions from Vaibhav Suryavanshi that it will be talked out for decades to come to stop them from going down. Judging by how desperately poor CSK have been this season, they might need a stroke of individual genius of Suryavanshi's proportions to pull them to temporary safety today.

Currently languishing at the bottom of the points table, CSK’s struggles this season have been largely attributed to an underwhelming auction strategy. While the franchise has successfully revived the careers of seasoned players like Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube, it continues to face criticism for not investing enough in emerging talent.

This season, they have finally decided to try something different, albeit it may be too little too late. With opening combinations of Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, and Rahul Tripathi failing to deliver consistently, CSK have turned to youth. The team handed IPL debuts to 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre and 20-year-old Shaik Rasheed after putting them through match-simulation training at their high-performance centre. They have also bought 22-year-old South African Dewald Brevis.

Batting coach Mike Hussey on Tuesday admitted that the five-time champions need to improve in identifying and nurturing young talent. "I think one area that we've really identified that we want to improve on is the talent identification side of things," Hussey said. "So, we have had different players come in and train with us at various stages, almost on trial a little bit, but also when their names come up for an auction, then at least we've seen them, we've had eyes on them."

Here are some highlights from CSK vs PBKS, IPL 2025:

- Shreyas Iyer scored a half-century in 32 balls

- Prabhsimran Singh scored a half-century in 31 balls

- PBKS 51/1 at the end of powerplay

- CSK 190 all out in 19.2 overs

- Yuzvendra Chahal took a hat-trick in the 19th over

- Sam Curran went past 50 in 30 balls

- CSK 48/3 in powerplay

- Both of CSK's openers fell in the first four overs

- PBKS won the toss and chose to bowl first

- CSK will be eliminated from the race for the playoffs if they lose