NEW DELHI: There was a sea of yellow at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala as fans wore yellow jerseys to cheer for the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the Punjab Kings' home game on Sunday.
And when Shardul Thakur was cleaned up by Harshal Patel, the picturesque Dharamsala stadium seen buzzing with the chants of Dhoni, Dhoni as the talisman made his way to the middle.
The crowd hoped for a thrilling display and powerful hits from the legendary cricketer, but their excitement was soon dashed when Dhoni was dismissed for a golden duck as Harshal's slower yorker deceived Dhoni and knocked over his stumps.
This marked the first time in IPL 2024 that Dhoni left the field without scoring.
Chennai Super Kings secured a 28-run victory in the match.
1/10:IPL: Chennai Super Kings end five-match losing streak against Punjab Kings
AFP
2/10:Jadeja on-song
<p>Ravindra Jadeja put in an all-round performance to help Chennai Super Kings beat Punjab Kings by 28 runs in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.<br /></p>AFP
3/10:Jadeja stars with both bat and ball
<p>Jadeja scored 43 runs off 26 balls to anchor Chennai’s innings to 167-9 and then took 3-20 in four overs to help restrict Punjab's chase to 139-9.<br /></p>AP
4/10:A win after 1,115 days
<p>It was only Chennai’s second win in the last five games, and also ended its five-match losing streak against Punjab.<br /></p>PTI
5/10:Chahar shines
<p>Put into bat, Chennai lost Ajinkya Rahane (9) early. Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) put on 57 off 32 balls for the second wicket. Wrist spinner Rahul Chahar then took 3-23 in four overs to restrict the visiting side. He dismissed Gaikwad and then big-hitting Shivam Dube for a golden duck.<br /></p>AFP
6/10:Jadeja rescue act
<p>As Sam Curran dismissed Moeen Ali for 17, Chennai were reduced to 101 for 5 in 12.4 overs. Jadeja then guided Chennai to a challenging total on a two-paced wicket. He hit three fours and two sixes, while Harshal Patel’s death spell didn’t allow excess run-scoring.<br /></p>AFP
7/10:No Dhoni show
<p>MS Dhoni batted at No. 9 — for the first time – and Harshal Patel bowled him for a golden duck.<br /></p>ANI
8/10:A shaky start
<p>In reply, Punjab’s top order crumbled. Tushar Deshpande dismissed Jonny Bairstow (7) and Rilee Rossouw for a three-ball duck in the space of four balls. Impact player Prabhsimran Singh scored 30 off 23 balls, and along with Shashank Singh’s 20-ball 27 helped rebuild the innings from 9-2.<br /></p>PTI
9/10:Bowlers rise to the occasion
<p>Jadeja didn’t allow the middle order to get away, sending back Singh as well as Curran (7). Pacer Simarjeet came on as impact sub and took 2-16 in three overs as Punjab’s chase never looked a threat. Shardul Thakur and Mitchell Santner took a wicket each. <br /></p>AFP
10/10:CSK move to third spot
<p>Chennai moved up to third with 12 points, ahead of Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad on net run-rate. Punjab’s hopes of qualification took a blow. It's eighth in the 10-team league with eight points.<br /></p>PTIFollowing the game, Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta held a question-and-answer session on social media that had an indifferent query from a fan.
A fan asked: "Your franchise should conduct some activities to lure home fans more to the stadium because yesterday at Dharmasala is full of ?? yellow. #advice #pzchat".
To this, Preity replied: "It’s for Dhoni and what can I say … everyone loves him."
Chennai Super Kings are third in the points tally with 6 wins in 11 matches. They will next face Gujarat Titans on May 10.
