The last act - How Sikandar Raza outsmarted MS Dhoni in tense finish

If MS Dhoni is the maestro of last-over finishes with the bat, a glimpse of which was seen on Sunday at the Chepauk, he also is a master tactian when it comes to defending runs in the final over. He knows which bowler to get in and when and how to set the field. 

Often at times, Dhoni has even warned fielders of a possible catch, as seen through his career. Experience and sheer cricketing intelligence has come a long way for Dhoni in this aspect. 

But on Sunday, even as he changed the fielding positions for a few, warned the outfielders to sprint quickly, he was outsmarted by Sikandar Raza in the final ball of what was a dramatic chase for Punjab Kings, who eventually pulled off a record victory against CSK.

Seldom has Chepauk been silenced in IPL. And with a 201-run target on the board for the visiting side, Punjab Kings, and with master tactician MS Dhoni in the field and at his best, Chennai Super Kings fans hoped for the best. But Punjab had their plans straight.

Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh got the visitors off to a brisk start in the powerplay with the latter carrying the momentum after the captain's dismissal. CSK bounced back as Dhoni deployed his spin unit to bowl in tandem with the wickets getting slower. The plan worked impressively for Chennai before Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran took on the attack after the second timeout.

CSK bounced back again with crucial wickets and then found themselves lucky with the dismissal of dangerous-looking Jitesh Sharma as Rasheed took an inch-perfect catch, leaving Punjab to chase nine runs in the last over against Matheesha Pathirana.

Baby Malinga looked as dangerous as the original version as he leaked only two runs off the last three balls. Raza then managed to take two singles each in the next two deliveries reducing the equation down to three off one.

Chepauk crowd looked tensed, but in Dhoni they believed. The captain looked calm as he signalled the outfielder deep on the off side to sprint hard in a bid to deny a Super Over scenario. There were also some fielding changes made by Dhoni with a sweeper cover and a long-off in and three in the leg side. Meanwhile, there remained a confusion among the PBKS batters as the signal from the dug out was to retire one of the batters to get a fitter one to run for the singles.

Eventually it was settled and no changes were made as Raza geared up for the last ball. Pathirana went slower and on the stumps as Raza shuffled across and helped it over backward square leg. The shot wasn't hard enough and hence Raza sprinted for the runs while Theekshana chased for the ball. The boundary was stopped, but by the time the ball was thrown back to Dhoni, PBKS had completed the chase.

Chennai have never lost an afternoon game in Chepauk in IPL history with a 7 out of 7 record. But PBKS's win ensured the end of that streak. Punjab also became the first visiting side to beat Chennai after the hosts scored 200 or more rusn at the venue.