Ruturaj Gaikwad might have missed out on a well-deserved second consecutive ton, but the Chennai Super Kings skipper regaled the sell-out crowd with a scintillating 98 (54b, 10x4, 3x6) to set up a commanding 78-run win for his side over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.
The skipper was well supported by Daryl Mitchell (52, 32b, 7x4, 1x6), who finally found form as they combined to forge a 107-run stand for the second wicket. Later, Shivam Dube (39 n.o., 20b, 1x4, 4x6) gave the innings the final flourish as the Super Kings posted 212 for three.
In reply, Sunrisers’ chase stuttered from the beginning with Tushar Deshpande’s triple strike (three for 23) in the PowerPlay. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma picked two sixes off his first three balls off the pacer, but Deshpande came back strongly to remove Head and Anmolpreet Singh off successive deliveries. In the next over, the he dismissed Abhishek, caught by Mitchell at deep-point, to rattle the visitors.
During the middle overs, Ravindra Jadeja dried up the runs with a miserly spell (one for 22). When Matheesha Pathirana pegged Aiden Markram’s middle-stump back with a searing yorker in the 11th over, SRH slumped to 85 for five from which it could never recover and was bowled out for 134.
Showing the way
Earlier, Ruturaj’s majestic knock set CSK on course for an imposing total after it was asked to bat first on a slow pitch.
Whether giving himself room to smash left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed inside-out, or slicing Bhuvneshwar Kumar behind point, or sending a copybook cover drive to the ropes, Ruturaj easily peppered the off-side fence.
At the other end, Mitchell slowly found his bearings and struck to his strength of going down the ground, with success — the best shot being a lofted six off Cummins over long-off as he got his maiden half-century.
Even as Ruturaj was tiring as he neared his century, Dube took the baton from his captain and smashed T. Natarajan for a couple of sixes to get going. The duo added 74 for the third wicket to power CSK past 200, which proved more than enough.
Scoreboard
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Ajinkya Rahane c Shahbaz b Bhuvneshwar 9 (12b, 1x4), Ruturaj Gaikwad c Nitish b Natarajan 98 (54b, 10x4, 3x6), Daryl Mitchell c Nitish b Unadkat 52 (32b, 7x4, 1x6), Shivam Dube (not out) 39 (20b, 1x4, 4x6), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 5 (2b, 1x4)
Extras: (b-1, lb-2, w-6): 9;
Total: (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 212.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-19 (Rahane, 2.5 overs), 2-126 (Mitchell, 13.3), 3-200 (Ruturaj, 19.2).
SUNRISERS BOWLING
Bhuvneshwar 4-0-38-1, Nitish 1-0-8-0, Shahbaz 3-0-33-0, Natarajan 4-0-43-1, Unadkat 4-0-38-1, Cummins 4-0-49-0.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Travis Head c Mitchell b Deshpande 13 (7b, 1x4, 1x6), Abhishek Sharma c Mitchell b Deshpande 15 (9b, 1x4, 1x6), Anmolpreet Singh (Impact Player in place of Natarajan) c Moeen b Deshpande 0 (1b), Aiden Markram b Pathirana 32 (26b, 4x4), Nitish Reddy c Dhoni b Jadeja 15 (15b), Heinrich Klaasen c Mitchell b Pathirana 20 (21b, 1x6), Abdul Samad c (sub) Rizvi b Shardul 19 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), Shahbaz Ahmed c Mitchell b Mustafizur 7 (5b, 1x4), Pat Cummins c Mitchell b Deshpande 5 (7b, 1x4), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (not out) 4 (3b), Jaydev Unadkat c Moeen b Mustafizur 1 (2b)
Extras: (nb-1, w-2): 3
Total: (in 18.5 overs): 134.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-21 (Head, 1.5), 2-21 (Anmolpreet, 1.6), 3-40 (Abhishek, 3.5), 4-72 (Nitish, 8.5), 5-85 (Markram, 10.5), 6-117 (Klaasen, 15.5), 7-119 (Samad, 16.2), 8-124 (Cummins, 17.3), 9-132 (Shahbaz, 18.2).
SUPER KINGS BOWLING
Chahar 3-0-22-0, Deshpande 3-0-27-4, Mustafizur 2.5-0-19-2, Jadeja 4-0-22-1, Shardul (Impact Player in place of Dube) 4-0-27-1, Pathirana 2-0-17-2.
Toss: Sunrisers; PoM: Ruturaj.
CSK won by 78 runs.
