CSK vs SRH: No 'Sun rise' in Chennai

CHENNAI: Defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) returned to winning ways after suffering two consecutive losses. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) once again succumbed under pressure while chasing a target, with Ruturaj Gaikwad leading CSK to victory after his brilliant performance with the bat.

Chasing a score of 213 runs, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma who have wreaked havoc together many times this season, went back to the dugout in a similar fashion after spending a brief amount of time on the crease, both pulled shots to deep-point where Daryl Mitchell made no mistake taking the catches. Anmolpreet Singh came in as an impact player replacing T Natarajan, but he was sent packing the first ball by Tushar Deshpande courtesy of a catch from Moeen Ali. Markram kept a scoreboard ticking before a deadly Yorker by Matheesha Pathirana bowled his middle stump out of the ground. MS Dhoni played his part behind the stumps to remove Nitish Reddy after a half-tracker by Ravindra Jadeja completely deceived him.

Mitchell’s contribution on the field came into play once again as he took the catch to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen, a slow full toss ball and Klaasen couldn’t get under it much. It’d be a night Pat Cummins would want to forget, he was expensive with the ball and also had to depart after scoring five runs. CSK squeezed its opponents thereafter leaving no room for them to settle as CSK got its redemption over SRH.

Earlier, after being put to bat first, the top-order woes continued for CSK as Ajinkya Rahane had to depart early off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a slow length ball outside off being dragged to Shahbaz Ahmad at mid-wicket. It was the seventh time Bhuvneshwar got the better of Rahane in the IPL. CSK needed someone to open up and play freely, and opener Gaikwad took up that role, hitting back-to-back boundaries off Bhuvneshwar in the fifth over. Mitchell and Gaikwad kept the scoreboard ticking as the duo brought up their 100-run partnership in 59 balls. Mitchell also scored his maiden IPL fifty in 29 balls, and what a time to bring it on when the team needed it the most.

Although CSK didn’t hit many maximums halfway through the match, they kept the run-rate close to 10 per over. Unlike the previous game against LSG, dew started coming into play early as spinner Shahbaz was seen taking a bit more time, wiping the ball. Gaikwad and Mitchell’s partnership was finally broken in the fourteenth over as the latter had to walk back after scoring his fifty, being caught by Nitish Reddy at deep mid-wicket.

He had a quick chat with the on-field umpires about the height of the delivery, but it was assured to be below the waist, and in came the hard-hitting Shivam Dube. CSK needed runs towards the end, and they targeted Natarajan and Pat Cummins, who weren’t very economical on the night. Misfields and overthrows came into play as SRH was getting desperate for a wicket, and CSK reached the 200-run mark at the end of the 19th over. Natarajan came back in the final over and got the wicket of Gaikwad, who had to depart two runs short of a century. Dhoni once again stepped up in the final over and hit a boundary as CSK closed the innings with 212 on the board.

BRIEF SCORES: Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 212/3 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 98, Daryl Mitchell 52) beat. Sunrisers Hyderabad 134 in 18.5 overs (Tushar Deshpande 4/27)