IPL 2018: Match 20, SRH vs CSK, Review- Chennai survive late surge from the Sunrisers to top the ladder

Chennai brushed aside the Sunrisers in a jaw-dropping thriller in Hyderabad.

Published - 22 Apr 2018, 19:59 IST | Updated - 22 Apr 2018, 19:59 IST

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The Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Chennai Super Kings have been among the teams who have been in excellent form. Prior to the game in Hyderabad, both teams played four games out of which they emerged triumphant in three. The odds, ahead of the game, were slightly stacked against the home team as for the maiden occasion they took the field without Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

On the other hand, CSK were brimming with confidence after their thumping victory against the Rajasthan Royals. They carried forward their form and tantalizingly brushed aside the home team by a slender margin of four runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The Sunrisers were pushed to the walls and gave CSK a run for their money, but MS Dhoni’s men turned out to be insurmountable for the Sunrisers.

Rayudu demolish the Sunrisers

The conditions were overcast and quite expectantly, Kane Williamson elected to have a crack at the Chennai batsmen. The decision paid dividends as Bhuvneshwar Kumar beat Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis’ bat quite a few times. Watson strained to replicate his form and became Bhuvi’s maiden victim. Du Plessis, who was roped in place of Imran Tahir, was foxed by Rashid Khan’s guile.

Suresh Raina joined Ambati Rayudu at the wicket and the duo had the responsibility of getting the innings back on track for CSK, more so as two of their star batsmen were back in the hut. They played cautiously and guided the visitors to a score of 54 runs in 10 overs. The sun came out, which made batting easier. Raina and Rayudu had settled in by then and picked up the scoring rate.

While Raina kept rotating the strike, Rayudu gradually piled on the runs at a fair clip. The Guntur-born batsman went from strength and strength and notched his half-century in 27 balls. The partnership compiled 112 runs off 57 balls, which put the skids under the SRH bowlers. Rashid Khan, again, had an off day as he and was the most expensive bowler for the Sunrisers.

Rayudu scored 79 runs, but his knock came to a rather dull end when he was run-out courtesy of taking off running on a misfield. Raina kept the scoreboard moving and more importantly, he regained his spot as the leading run-scorer in the history of the tournament. MS Dhoni played a breezy cameo, which propelled CSKs score over the 180-run mark.

Chennai hold their nerves amidst spirited Sunrisers

The target was a daunting one for the Sunrisers as they didn’t possess the firepower as that of Chennai. They sprang a surprise as Wriddhiman Saha was demoted and Ricky Bhui was sent to open the batting with Kane Williamson. The youngster struggled as CSK’s swing bowler Deepak Chahar dismissed him and commenced proceedings with a wicket-maiden.

In his second and third over, Chahar accounted for Manish Pandey and Deepak Hooda’s dismissal which set the cat amongst the pigeons in the Sunrisers dugout. The superb spell prompted MS Dhoni to bowl him out. From the Sunrisers point of view, Shakib Al Hasan and Williamson had to play a major role in the run-chase as the lineup wasn’t left with much firepower.

Shakib looked good for the brief phase he was there, but Karn Sharma lured him into playing a false stroke, which led to his dismissal. On the other hand, skipper Williamson raced away to his sixth fifty in the IPL. During the stage, SRH required 105 off 48 balls, but Yusuf Pathan and the skipper had something extraordinary in store as they successfully went hell for leather, which brought them into the game.

The New Zealander scored 84 runs off 51 balls and it required a stupendous catch from Ravindra Jadeja to dismiss him. Yusuf tried his best and kept SRH in the hunt till he was there in the middle. He scored 45 but Shardul Thakur got rid of him with a knuckleball. When it was estimated that Chennai had bagged the game, Rashid Khan whacked a couple of sixes and then a boundary, but to the agony of the home crowd, he couldn’t clear the boundary on the last ball and SRH fell short of the target by 4 runs.

Tye feels sad for SRH

How crucial of a call will that be later on? It looked miles above the waist but not called or looked at? #IPL11 #SRHvsCSK
— Andrew Tye (@aj191) April 22, 2018

4 runs that could have been made off a free hit had it been called, these decisions can be crucial in a game why are we not taking the time to make sure the right call is made?
— Andrew Tye (@aj191) April 22, 2018