'Had an intuition he’d come again' - Chahal explains how he plotted Quinton de Kock's dismissal

Champion Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was once again at his absolute best in Sunday's game against the Lucknow Supergiants (LSG).

The street-smart leggie played a pivotal role in Rajasthan successfully defending their total of 166 as he claimed four wickets in his quota, albeit at the cost of 41 runs.

Of the four wickets that the 31-year-old took, he enjoyed dismissing Proteas swashbuckling opener Quinton de Kock the most as he felt that the southpaw could have changed the game had he stayed any longer.

De Kock was dismissed on a scratchy 32-ball 39 by Chahal in the 16th over when the left-hander proceeded to hit a wide long-hop straight to Riyan Parag at long-on.

In the same over, the wrist-spinner also bowled Krunal Pandya to swing the game completely in his team's favour.

When asked about his game-plan against Quinton de Kock, Chahal said that he decided to play on his patience and fire it wide since the former was regularly stepping out of his crease.

De Kock ultimately fell into the trap as he failed to nail an attempted flat pull shot.

"Backed myself. My main strength is my mind. Didn't want to divert from what I usually do. I was always ready to bowl at anytime from overs 1-20. Enjoyed de Kock's wicket the most. He could've changed the game," said Chahal at the post-match conference.

"Having seen him step out, had an intuition he'd come again (Badoni). Bowled it wider. Don't think a lot about my bad games," he added.

Post these two dismissals, the witty spinner backed it up with the wicket of Dushmantha Chameera in his final over to become only the 5th bowler to claim 150 IPL wickets.

The former chess player has claimed these many wickets in 117 innings at an average of 21.34 and an economy rate of 7.54. As a result, the Haryana-based leggie finds himself at the 4th spot in the all-time list, headed by Dwayne Bravo.

He is also the current holder of the coveted 'Purple Cap'.

Chahal's 4-for, Boult's early assault, and Kuldeep Sen's brilliant final over helped Rajasthan seal a three-run win after they posted 166 in 20 overs; thanks largely to another whirlwind knock from Shimron Hetmyer (59 off 36 deliveries).