New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad could not stop the Chennai Express. The venue changed but CSK remained unchanged while SRH suffered a heavy defeat. Dhoni’s CSK won by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. This is CSK’s fifth consecutive victory in the tournament. With this, CSK regained the number one position by overtaking Royal Challengers Bangalore. Meanwhile, it was SRH’s fifth defeat in six matches. They remain at the bottom of the points table.
SRH were confident that they would be able to defend their target of 172 which they had set batting first. But this total did not pose any challenge to CSK. Ruthuraj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis put on a century partnership (129) for the opening wicket as the match slipped away from SRH. CSK overtook the target by three wickets in 18.3 overs. Score: SRH 171 for three and CSK 173 for three in 18.3 overs.
The fifties from Ruthuraj (75) and Duplessis (56) laid the foundation for CSK’s chase. Ruthuraj became CSK’s top scorer with 12 fours in just 44 balls. Du Plessis hit 56 off 38 balls, including six fours and a six. Ruthuraj and Duplessis put on 129 for the first wicket in 78 balls. SRH’s bowling attack did not challenge the pair in any way. In the end, it was Rashid Khan who gave SRH the first breakthrough, albeit late. Rashid was hit for three fours in the 13th over but bowled Ruturaj in the last ball of teh same over. Moeen Ali (15) and Du Plessis were bowled by Rashid in consecutive balls (CSK 148 for three). But Suresh Raina (17 *) and Ravindra Jadeja (7 *) completed CSK’s victory with ease.
After the toss, CSK helf off SRH, who opted to bat, and bowled well until the 18th over. At the end of 18 overs, SRH were 138 for three. But in the last two overs, they scored 33 runs and crossed the 170 mark. SRH scored 171 for three.
SRH’s top scorer was Manish Pandey with 61 runs. Pandey’s 46-ball innings included five fours and a six. Pandey celebrated his return with a stunning fifty after being dropped from the team for slow batting. Captain David Warner (57) also found Fifty for SRH. He hit three fours and two sixes in his 55-ball innings. Johnny Bairstow (7) was sent off without making a significant contribution.
Kane Williamson smashed in the final overs to give SRH a winnable score. Williamson was unbeaten on 26 off 10 balls, including four fours and a six. Williamson hit 20 off Shardul Thakur in the 19th over, including three fours and a six. At the end of the innings, Kedar Jadhav was at 12 * (four balls, 1 four, 1 six) at the crease. Lungi Ngidi took two wickets for CSK while Sam Curran took one wicket.
The Bairstow-Warner duo started SRH’s innings with a remarkable start. The duo put on 22 for the first wicket. Deepak Chahar caught Bairstow of Sam Curran’s bowling as Bairstow attempt for a pull shot. Warner and Pandey put on 106 for the second wicket. Warner returned to the dugout with the team score of 128. Warner was caught by Ravindra Jadeja in the bowling of Ngidi while trying to speed up the scoring. Pandey returned in the same over trying to up the scoring rate. Du Plessis caught Pandey with a brilliantly near the boundary line.
