Chennai Super Kings suffered their eighth defeat in the Indian Premier League 2025 season, going down to Punjab Kings by four wickets in a closely-fought contest in Chennai on Wednesday.
This after Yuzvendra Chahal recorded his second hat-trick in the cash-rich T20 extravaganza to enable them dismiss the five-time champions for 190 -- a par score on a good track.
The ace leg-spinner finished with four wickets as Punjab Kings eventually went home with two points.
Chahal wasn't having the best of seasons until his stunning show against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mullanpur on April 16. That match was the turning point for the IPL's most successful bowler.
His campaign this season started on a sombre note, as he just wasn't able to work his magic in the early games. From Punjab's first five he took just two wickets.
But the Mullanpur match got him four along with a bucket load of much-needed confidence.
That culminated into another stirring performance in Chennai on Wednesday as he came up with a performance for the ages, becoming the first bowler to register a hat-trick in IPL 2025.
His effort of 4 for 32 was a game-changing one, especially given how CSK were going strong until the 18th over.
After the powerplay overs till the 16th, CSK were going at the speed of knots, thanks primarily to Sam Curran, who hit a blistering 88 off 47 balls.
But the England player was sent back by Marco Jansen in the 18th over.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni came out and hit the first ball for a boundary and then took a single to make his intentions clear.
CSK were 177 for 5 after 18 overs and primed to go past the 200 mark with 12 deliveries remaining.
But the Punjab captain ensured those did not come to fruition. The team was handed a penalty for slow over-rate, 5 fielders inside the circle and only 4 manning the boundary ropes.
Chahal, who was hammered for 23 runs in his first two overs, was handed the responsibility of bowling the penultimate over of CSK's innings; and what a masterstroke that turned out to be.
He was hit for six by Dhoni off the first ball. The pressure was clearly on him to restrict the total to under 200.
However, Chahal came back nicely, having Dhoni caught off the second delivery (18.2).
Two balls later (18.4), he had Deepak Hooda slicing a wide ball to backward point. That was the start of his hat-trick.
Next (18.5), Anshul Kamboj failed to read a short one that skid through; he tried to cut, only to miss it and get bowled for a first-ball duck.
On a hat-trick now, Chahal won the battle of wits as he tossed up the next one, inviting Noor Ahmad to take him on. Noor took the bait and mishit, only to be caught at long-on.
With the resounding show, Chahal completed his second hat-trick in the IPL and reduced CSK down to 186 for 9. He took four wickets in the over and conceded 9 runs to finish with figures of 4 for 32.
With only Dube, the proper batter at the crease, 200 looked far-fetched, and even though he got a four off the first ball of the 20th over, Arshdeep had him out next ball and CSK were dismissed for a par total with four balls to spare.
Chahal is now the first player in IPL history to take a hat-trick against CSK.
This is also the first instance of a bowler taking a hat-trick at Chepauk since 2008. CSK's Laximipathy Balaji was the first to achieve the feat, against Kings XI Punjab (now PBKS).
He is also the first bowler since IPL 2023 to pick a hat-trick.
This was Chahal's second IPL hat-trick, making him only the third player in the league's history to claim multiple hat-tricks, alongside Amit Mishra, who has three (2008, 2011, and 2013) and Yuvraj Singh, who has two (both in 2009).
Chahal now also has the most four-plus wicket hauls in IPL history, with nine such efforts to his name. He is placed ahead of Sunil Narine (8), Lasith Malinga (7) and Kagiso Rabada (6).
In addition, this was the second time he took four wickets in a single over in the IPL, a rare feat previously achieved only by Amit Mishra (Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Pune Warriors in 2013), Chahal himself (RR vs KKR in 2022), and Andre Russell (KKR vs GT in 2022).
Chahal's hat-trick also added a new milestone to the Punjab Kings record books, marking their fifth overall.
Yuvraj had earlier taken two hat-tricks for the franchise, while Amit Mishra and Sam Curran had one each.
In the last four Punjab games ths season, Chahal picked 11 wickets in 14 overs, at an economy of 7.64.
His four-for not only ended CSK's innings but also ended their chase for a play-offs spot.