Punjab Kings (PBKS) secured a four-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an exhilarating IPL 2025 Match 49 on April 30, 2025, at MA Chidambaram Stadium. After CSK posted a total of 190, PBKS managed to knock together 192 with two balls to spare - and did so under serious bowling pressure from CSK. Let’s take a look at the reasons CSK lost this match.

The over-the-top total for one reason was that CSK could not defend 190 because of poor bowling and inability to take a wicket. In particular, Shreyas Iyer (72) and Prabhsimran Singh (54) were a little too good for the CSK bowling attack of Matheesha Pathirana (2/45) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/28)—even after Sam Curran scored 88 off only 47 to give CSK a good platform. The CSK bowlers were either too consistent with their bowling or swung too wide in a manner not conducive to defending the target, despite impressive contributions by Pathirana and Ahmed. Under pressure from aggressive powerplay and middle-overs play from Iyer and Singh, CSK looked incapable of responding in their mode.

This was clearly a very interesting contest. There were some quick runs from Shashank Singh (23 off 12) in an effort to fire the team home in the end, but the real responsibility lay with CSK's death bowling led by Ravindra Jadeja (1/32) and Pathirana.

1. Inadequate Death Bowling

First of all, CSK put up a competitive score of 190 runs but could not defend it in the death overs! Punjab chased it down with 2 balls to spare following a brutal finish from Shashank Singh after steady contributions throughout the innings, despite Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed being expensive and conceding a combined 73 runs in 7.4 overs, which hurt CSK's chances in the death.

Also Read: IPL 2025, Match 49: Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings Full Match Highlights

2. Lack of bowling support for Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja bowled economically and got a wicket for 32 runs in 3 overs, but the remaining CSK bowlers did not have the penetration or control required. Yes, Jadeja did his job, but when the other bowlers cannot assert control, apply pressure, or take crucial wickets to break up partnerships, then the required run rate can remain manageable. 

3. Over-reliance on Sam Curran

Sam Curran played an incredible innings of 88 runs off 47 balls; however, he got little to no support from the remaining batsmen. Dewald Brevis and Jadeja produced only insignificant contributions, and there were no strong partnerships down through the middle order, which left CSK just short of a formidable total of 200 runs that they might have been able to defend given the conditions.