Chennai Super Kings visited Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium for the 20th match of the IPL 2018. Both teams have performed well so far in the tournament thus far. As expected, the 2 sides put up a high-class show that was ultimately won by CSK.
As it happens more often than not in the league, a captain wins the toss and elects to bowl and Kane Williamson did the same to CSK. The SRH bowlers kept it tight up front and didn’t let the CSK openers flourish. They didn’t concede a single boundary in the first 3 overs that exerted the pressure and led to the downfall of Shane Watson courtesy Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
It was tough going for the batsmen as they managed just 27 runs at the end of the powerplay. Faf du Plessis’s struggle was ended by Rashid Khan and after 9 overs, the score barely reached 41/2. But the new man Ambati Rayudu brought substance to the innings and along with Suresh Raina, aided the scoring rate.
Rayudu-Raina set the tone
The duo went on the attack as finally, the CSK innings had some momentum. They went after Rashid Khan and Billy Stanlake, the two who are difficult to score runs off, to take the score to 120/2 after 15 overs as Rayudu went past his half-century. The platform was set and the explosions were on but amidst all that, Rayudu got run out in an unfortunate manner after scoring 79 off just 37 balls.
It was then the vintage combination of MS Dhoni and Raina at the death overs. They collected 36 runs from the last 3 overs to power the side to a daunting score of 182/3 at the end of the innings. While the skipper scored 25 off 12 balls, Raina stayed unbeaten at 54 off 43 balls.
The CSK pacer, Deepak Chahar, who has been mightily impressive in the tournament, made an impact immediately. He bowled a wicket-maiden first up that included the scalp of Ricky Bhui. Kane Williamson got going with a couple of boundaries in the next over but his side suffered a major blow when Manish Pandey was dismissed for a duck by Chahar in the 3rd over.
Williamson kept the side in the hunt
Williamson looked in top form but he witnessed another wicket at the other end in the form of Deepak Hooda. Shakib Al Hasan came out all guns blazing and took the score to 40/3 after 6 overs. Williamson and Shakib strung a decent partnership before Shakib was scalped by Karn Sharma for 24 in the 11th over.
The score read 84/4 after 13 overs and the game was running away from the hosts. But the skipper then unleashed himself and hammered Ravindra Jadeja for a six in the next over followed by 3 maximums to Karn. All of a sudden, the visitors were under pressure and to add to their worries, Yusuf Pathan smacked a couple of sixes in the next over to Dwayne Bravo.
CSK emerge on top in another last-ball finish
It came down to 41 from the last 3 overs and Bravo accounted for the wicket of Williamson who departed after a magnificent 84 off 51 balls. Yusuf sent one out of the park in the next over but he too fell in the hunt for big ones for 45 as the visitors looked favorites to seal the match.
But Rashid Khan struck his first ball for a six to bring the equation down to 19 from the last over. Bravo had the responsibility to deliver and in the first half of the over, he gave away just 3 runs. Rashid hit a six and a four off the next 2 balls to keep his team in the hunt. A six was required from the last ball but Bravo kept his nerves and delivered a perfect yorker to restrict the opposition 4 short of the target.
Match Summary
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl first
Chennai Super Kings: 182/3 in 20 overs
Ambati Rayudu 79 (37), Suresh Raina 54* (43)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 22/1 (3), Rashid Khan 49/1 (4)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 178/6 in 20 overs
Kane Williamson 84 (51), Yusuf Pathan 45 (27)
Deepak Chahar 15/3 (4), Karn Sharma 30/1 (3)
Chennai Super Kings won by 4 runs
Player of the Match: Ambati Rayudu
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