It was the clash of the teams who were at the 8th and 9th positions in the points table. Both the Chennai Super Kings and the Punjab Kings badly wanted to bounce back in the series with victories in their kitty. Throughout the series, Ravindra Jadeja is finding it difficult to manage captaincy as well as his own form, which has been a cause of worry for the CSK.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, are too aggressive and they needed to get better with their batting to get back to the winning ways. Monday's crucial battle was hosted by the Wankhede Stadium and CSK won the toss and decided to field first, unsurprisingly. Punjab's Mayank Agarwal was dismissed early. Dhawan and Rajapaksa united to produce a splendid partnership. The CSK had no clue on how to break this partnership, after dropping the catch of Rajapaksa early.

While Rajapaksa got dismissed for 42, Shikhar Dhawan scored a fantastic 88 from just 59 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. No one from the CSK bowling unit could produce any magic with the ball that allowed the Punjab Kings to score a mammoth 187 runs in their 20 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. It was a really slow start for the CSK as they lost Uthappa, Santner and Dube in the first 7 overs. Ruturaj lasted for 30 runs and he still couldn't really find himself this year.

Ambati Rayudu was the man for the CSK. On a wicket that seemed tough for the other CSK batsmen, he made batting look so easy. He middled the ball perfectly and started turning the tables, raising the hopes of the CSK. After putting on an impressive show, Rayudu got dismissed for 78 runs off 39 balls with 7 fours and 6 sixes, at the high time when he was all set to take his team over the line. 

When Dhoni entered with a huge roar from the audience, another magic was expected from him with Jadeja by his side. The pair needed to score 35 runs from 12 balls. With Dhoni at the crease, even 27 from the last over didn't seem impossible for the CSK fans. Dhoni began his innings and offered breather shots for the team, but not for a long time. When the fans were getting ready for the party, Dhoni got dismissed in the final over by scoring 12 runs off eight balls with a six and a four.

After his dismissal, the hopes of the CSK got shattered. Punjab Kings won the game by 11 runs and it is almost the end of the road for the CSK this year. CSK's position in the table remains intact. Off the eight matches, the defending champion had lost six and stands at the ninth spot. CSK's skipper Ravindra Jadeja has cited that the team has been failing to put on a good show in the first six overs and asserted that he will lead the team to a stronger comeback amid the team's ailing position. 

While addressing the post-match presentation ceremony, Jadeja said, "We started off very well, we felt we gave away 10-15 runs extra at the end. We did not execute our plans very well. He (Rayudu) was batting brilliantly throughout but as I said earlier, if we could've restricted to under 175, it would've been good. We are not getting good starts in the first six overs, that's where we are lacking and hopefully, we will come back stronger." CSK will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad, which had recorded five consecutive victories, on May 1 - Sunday. 

On the other hand, Punjab's captain Mayank Agarwal said, "We would like to win a few tosses, we have just won one. I thought Arsh bowled exceedingly well, he has bowled the tough overs, and he has been great for us. Even Rabada bowled well, to get Ruturaj and get Rayudu at that stage. These two have been great for us. As a team, we have to think about being smart. You want your opposition to play towards the longer side as much as they can. As a batter even if you mishit the balls, you will get the result against the shorter boundary. Those moments get the better out of you. It is important to carry the momentum. We have won one, but we need to win two or three on the bounce."