Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 129 runs for the opening partnership to make a mockery of the chase set up by Sunrisers Hyderabad as Chennai Super Kings registered their fifth successive victory of the IPL 2021. The victory helped them regain the top spot in the points table.
Earlier in the evening, a late surge from Kane Williamson and Kedar Jadhav in the last two overs guided SRH to a respectable 171/3. Both David Warner and Manish Pandey scored half-centuries, but their sluggish tempo dug a hole for them on a batting-friendly surface. Warner’s 57 came off 55 deliveries, while Manish Pandey’s 61 came at a comparatively better strike rate of 132.
Rashid Khan took three wickets in quick succession and tried to tilt the balance of the contest in SRH’s favour. But the game has already slipped out of their hands. CSK chased down the target by losing just three wickets and with nine balls to spare.
Chahar, Curran moves the ball
There was a hint of movement for the pacers. Both Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran curved the ball both ways in the initial stage. Chahar’s in-swinger straying down the leg found a healthy edge of Jonny Bairstow in the first over, but MS Dhoni dropped the catch.
When Chahar came on to bowl his next over, Warner heaved one over the cover. Bairstow then shimmied down the ground and dragged the ball towards mid-wicket for another boundary.
In the next over, however, Curran trapped Bairstow with a shortish delivery that the latter couldn’t get hold of it and found Chahar at the left of square leg.
SRH unable to break the shackle
Warner became overly cautious after the first wicket, relying heavily on ones and twos. By the end of the 10th over, he had laboured to 29 runs after consuming 35 balls. It took him eleven balls to hit his third boundary after striking the second, off Shardul Thakur in the seventh over.
Manish Pandey, who was making a comeback, got off the mark with a boundary, and added another in the next over with an exquisite backfoot punch. He hit the first six of the SRH innings, albeit as late as in the 10th over of the match.
Pandey showed a bit more urgency and reached his half-century in 35 balls. At this stage, Warner was still struggling on 39 off 44 deliveries. It was a suffocating phase for someone who carries the heaviest burden on his shoulder. His exasperation was visible with every mishit, every shot that went to the fielder. He seemed more frustrated than pleased after reaching his 53rd IPL half-century.
Williamson, Jadhav adds the finishing touch
An evening of unendurable agony finally came to an end when Lungi Ngidi had Warner caught at sweeper cover. Three balls later, Pandey too followed the path of his skipper after du Plessis took a stunning catch in deep to reduce SRH to 134/3 in 17.5 overs.
Williamson (26 off 10) and Jadhav (12 off 4), however, pressed the gas pedal at a crucial moment, and amassed 33 runs in the last two overs. Williamson, in particular, made it look so easy as strokes came out of his bat with a fluency not seen up till now in the innings.
Williamson hit four, six, four, four in successive deliveries to take away 20 runs off Thakur in the penultimate over. Jadhav then added the finishing touch, with a massive six over deep mid-wicket off the last ball, to take SRH to 171/3 in twenty overs.
CSK openers attacks
Du Plessis (56 off 38) and Gaikwad (75 off 44) again got their team off to a rollicking start as the duo took on every bowler, and kept finding the boundary with incredible regularity. In the third over, Gaikwad luckily survived an outside edge that missed the leg stump by a whisker and raced away to the boundary.
Except that, they gave no chance. Du Plessis toyed with the bowlers and found boundaries at will, while Ruturaj played second fiddle to him in the first six overs. They added 50 runs in the Powerplay.
Ruturaj explodes and takes the game away
Even after the fielders were pushed back to the fence, du Plessis and Gaikwad kept clearing them with ease. Jagadeesha Suchith conceded 13 runs from his first over, as Gaikwad punished him twice for dropping too short and too full. They reached 100 in 11 overs, unscathed.
Suchith leaked 17 runs off his next over as Ruturaj welcomed him with a brilliant drive before du Plessis danced down the track and launched it over the long-on. Du Plessis hit another boundary on the last ball. Both of them bought up their half-centuries.
Then Gaikwad, after smacking two consecutive fours, was undone by Rashid. The ball pitched on leg-and-middle and beat the outside edge to hit off stump.
Rashid got the second and third wickets with the last two balls of his spell. Moeen Ali’s cameo ended when he mistimed a slog over deep mid-wicket and was caught by Jadhav. With the next ball, Rashid trapped Faf du Plessis on the front pad with a googly. But it was a tad too late for the Sunrisers, for Chennai needed just 24 runs from the last five overs.
Suresh Raina drove through cover to score the winning runs as CSK registered their fifth victory of the campaign and leapfrogged RCB to claim the top spot in the points table.
Brief Score: Sunrisers Hyderabad 171/3 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 61, David Warner 57; Lungi Ngidi 2-35) loses to Chennai Super Kings 173/3 in 18.3 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 75, Faf du Plessis 56; Rashid Khan 3-36) by 7 wickets and with 9 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Ruturaj Gaikwad.