SUN RISES IN WEST
Garg, Natarajan shine as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeats Chennai Super Kings by seven runs in a close IPL contest
Sunrisers Hyderabad overcame a last-minute crisis to pull off a thrilling seven-run win over Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match here on Friday.
Set to chase 165, the Super Kings finished at 157 for five with its captain MS Dhoni remaining not out on 47 (36b, 4x4, 1x6) providing a late flourish that wasn’t enough in the end. Much of the credit should be given to Ravindra Jadeja for raising his team’s hopes with a valiant knock of 50 (35b, 5x4, 2x6).
The veteran duo added 72 runs for the fifth wicket after they were once again let down by a top-order failure. In fact, the Super Kings was struggling at 42 for four in the ninth over needing a further 123 runs in a little more than 10 overs when the two old warhorses joined hands in the middle. Dhoni took time to get going and towards the end he looked dehydrated, but carried on gallantly and clobbered a six off Khaleel Ahmed in the 19th over to take closer to the target.
The Hyderabad team suffered a major blow when its designated bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar left the ground clutching his hamstring after delivering the first ball of the 19th over. The extent of his injury is yet to be ascertained.
Earlier, a revamped Chennai Super Kings controlled the innings for a large part before youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma lifted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a competitive 164 for five. Its top guns not contributing much, Garg (51 not out) and Abhishek (31) raised a 77-run stand for the fifth wicket as SRH collected 53 runs in the last four overs to make it a contest.
CSK’s poor fielding towards the end helped SRH continue with the momentum as it dropped Abhishek twice.
After struggling in its initial matches, CSK brought Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Tahakur for Friday’s game.
That CSK came into the match rejuvenated following a one-week break was evident with the way Deepak Chahar (2/31) troubled the SRH batsmen with his swinging deliveries. Sam Curran too showed control.
Chahar was rewarded for his effort when he deceived Jonny Bairstow (0) with an in-swing ball that uprooted his stumps.
Manish Pandey (29) was in good touch as he timed the ball nicely when pitched up and did not hesitate to play lofted shots while Warner worked the ball around. They managed 42 runs off the Powerplay overs.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 164/5 in 20 overs (P Garg 51*, A Sharma 31) bt Chennai Super Kings 157/5 in 20 overs (R Jadeja 50, MS Dhoni 47*)