As it happened | IPL 2019: Chennai beat Punjab by 22 runs

Chennai beat Punjab by 22 runs. 

After the result, Chennai go on the top of the points table.  

Brief Scores:
Chennai: 160 for 3 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 54, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 37 not out; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/23). 

Punjab: 138 for 5 in 20 overs. (Sarfaraz Khan 67, KL Rahul 55; Harbhajan Singh 2/17).

KL Rahul departs!

Kuggeleijn to KL Rahul, catch out by Jadeja. 

Rahul scored 55 runs off 47 balls. 

Next batsman is David Miller. 

KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan have stabilise Punjab's run rate after receiving early shocks. 

The target seems achievable now. 

What will be Dhoni's strategy from here?

Chennai are 75/2 after 11 overs. 

After 6 overs, Punjab are 46/2. 

After losing early wickets, Rahul and Mayank look to build a partnership here for the third wicket. 

However, the first powerplay is entirely dominated by Chennai. 
They got the wicket they wanted. 

Chennai continued using spin to get more wickets here and slow the run rate. 

Here goes another wicket.

Mayank Agarwal out on duck!

Harbhajan to Mayank, catch out by Faf du Plessis. 

Next batsman is Sarfaraz Khan. 

Chris Gayle departs!

Bhajji gets the breakthrough.

Gayle walks back to the pavilion after scoring 5 runs. 

Harbhajan to Gayle, caught behind. 

Next batsman is Mayank Agarwal. 

Chennai post 160/3 in 20 overs against Punjab. 

Brief score: 160 for 3 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 54, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 37 not out; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/23).

After 18 overs, Chennai 127/3. 

Dhoni is playing at 14 and Rayudu is at 12 runs. 

Back to Back wickets!

Raina out

Ashwin to Raina, bowled. 

Raina scored 17 runs off 20 balls. 

Next batsman is Ambati Rayudu. 

Faf du Plessis out!

Ashwin to Faf, catch out by David Miller. 

Faf scored 54 off 38 balls. 

Next batsman is MS Dhoni. 

Du Plessis completes his half-century. 

Chennai are 98/1 after 13 overs. 

After 10 overs, Chennai are 71/1. 

Watson departs!

Ashwin to Watson, catch out by Sam Curran. 

Watson scored 26 off 24. 

Next batsman is Suresh Raina. 

Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis give Chennai stable start. 

Chennai are 47/0 after 5 overs. 

Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis are at the crease to open Chennai's innings. Shami will launch the bowling attack. 

What the captains are saying:

Aswin: "It looks really hard and hope it remains the same throughout the 40 overs. It's quite emotional to be honest. I am very happy to be back playing here in Chennai and looking forward to it. I'm looking for the crowd to back us, which I guess is not going to happen." 

Dhoni: "The wicket looks good to bat on initially, it's hard on the top. The wickets that we played on mostly were on the slower side. It's important to keep backing your strengths, irrespective of how many runs you're putting on the board."

MS Dhoni opted to bat first against Ashwin-led Punjab at the Chidambaram Stadium. 

Playing XI: 

Punjab: Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami

Chennai: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Scott Kuggeleijn, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir

Chennai made three changes, handing Scott Kuggeleijn his IPL debut besides bringing in Harbhajan Singh and Faf du Plessis in place of injured Dwyane Bravo, Mohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur. 

Punjab have brought back Chris Gayle and Andrew Tye in place of Hardus Viljoen and Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Hello and welcome to 18th match of Indian Premier League 2019 in which Chennai will take on Punjab. 

Get the live updates here.