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Chennai Super Kings will take on Punjab Kings in the 41st league meeting of IPL 2023 in Chepauk on Sunday, April 30. Both teams are headed into the crucial fixture on the back disappointing defeats against teams from the top end of the table.

MS Dhoni’s side, that travelled to Jaipur to take on Rajasthan Royals, were outclassed in every department of the game by last year’s losing finalists. Initially, it was the CSK bowlers, who were torn apart by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s carnage.

While the spinners did pull things back to some extent in the middle overs, Sanju Samson’s men went into overdrive against the CSK pacers in the death overs to set a daunting total of 202 runs.

Even though they were set a massive total, the Yellow Army was in the chase, given their formidable batting unit. But a slow start by Devon Conway, followed by Ajinkya Rahane’s sluggish innings derailed their chase. Shivam Dube did manage to enhance his reputation as a demolisher with another explosive half-century, only to end up on the losing side on the night.

Coming to their opponents, Punjab Kings, the only positive for them in the game against LSG was the return of skipper Shikhar Dhawan. The PBKS bowlers were ripped to shreds by the KL Rahul’s men as they posted the second highest total in IPL history in their 20 overs.

Punjab needed a herculean effort from their batters to chase down the mind-boggling target. However, they fell well short of the total despite Atharva Taide’s breezy half century. Truth be told, they lost the game after conceding 257 runs in the first innings.

Both teams will be eager to bounce back to winning ways after their deflating defeats after being let down by their bowlers. It proposes to be nail-biting contest between two top quality sides aspiring of making it to the playoffs.