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Chennai Super Kings 182 for 3 (Rayudu 79, Raina 54*) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 178 for 6 (Williamson 84, Yusuf 45, Chahar 3-15) by four runs
Hyderabad: In a contest where fortunes swung from one side to another, Deepak Chahar’s three-wicket opening burst and a stunning 79 from Ambati Rayudu powered Chennai Super Kings to a four-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Kane Williamson’s classy 84 and Yusuf Pathan’s 45 were not enough to stop the rampant Chennai Super Kings from registering their fifth win in four matches since their return to competition after two years.
Chasing 183, Williamson took the fight till the end, adding 79 runs with Pathan to keep hopes alive at the packed Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
CSK prevailed eventually, with SRH finishing on 178/6 off 20 overs. In a last-gasp effort, Rashid Khan scored a four-ball 17 not out, but it wasn’t enough.
Williamson struck five sixes and fours each in his 51-ball innings, providing SRH the solidity they needed in the absence of injured opener Shikhar Dhawan. Pathan raced to a 27-ball 45 with four sixes and one four.
The MS Dhoni-led side were strangled by the disciplined Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowlers. CSK reached 27 for one after six overs, and accelerated only after the halfway stage.
After being reduced to 54/2 after 10 overs, Rayudu’s onslaught and Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 53 helped CSK recover with Dhoni scoring a brisk unbeaten 25 in the end.
CSK scored as many as 128 runs in the final 10 overs, of which 62 came in the last 30 balls.
Rayudu, batting at No 4, clobbered four sixes and nine fours, and at one stage looked set to complete a century. However, e a mix-up with Raina saw him miss out.
Rayudu and Raina added 112 runs for the third wicket, with the former scoring 46 runs in the second fifty of the stand. Raina, who struck five fours and two sixes, went past Virat Kohli as the leading run-scorer in IPL.
With Dhawan out due to an elbow injury, the hosts picked Ricky Bhui (0) and brought back Billy Stanlake. However, despite an inspired start with the ball, SRH bowlers were pummelled for second game on the trot with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/22) not even completing his quota of overs.
Deepak Chahar broke SRH’s back with an opening spell of 3-1-7-3, accounting for Bhui, Manish Pandey (0) and Deepak Hooda (1).
Williamson, who completed his half-century off 35 balls, waged a lone battle for most part of SRH’s innings. The Kiwi skipper opened the innings due to Dhawan’s absence, having scored a fifty in the previous match to provide consistency at the top.
With Chahar ripping apart the top order, Williamson kept the scoreboard ticking with two boundaries each off Shardul Thakur’s first two overs, and brought his team back into contention with three sixes off leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 15th over, which went for 22 runs.
However, the dismissal of Williamson and Pathan inside five deliveries ended SRH’s chances. The hosts needed 19 runs off the final over bowled by Dwayne Bravo, who conceded 14.
