Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings by 7 runs to get their second win in four matches, while CSK stayed at the bottom of the table with only one win from the same number of games. From Priyam Garg’s sparkling half-century to Abdul Samad defending 27 runs against MS Dhoni and Sam Curran in the final over, there were plenty of moments in the game.
Here’s a wrap.
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CSK start well
A few outswingers, and then a surprise, perfect inswinger. Deepak Chahar got his plan perfectly executed to bowl Jonny Bairstow in the very first over of the game. Manish Pandey and David Warner shared a small partnership but neither could convert their 20s into bigger knocks. CSK got through the top 4 - considered SRH’s only strength in the batting - in 11 overs, with only 69 runs on board.
With inexperienced players in Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad to follow, CSK would have had hopes of keeping SRH to a below par total…
… the rise of Priyam Garg
Garg was involved in a run out of Kane Williamson, after which the latter gave him a few stares before walking out. Some would have even expected Garg to sacrifice his wicket for the senior partner. The pressure was on the India Under-19 captain from the World Cup earlier this year.
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And how well he dealt with it! Garg scored 11 off his first 9 balls, a phase during which Abhishek Sharma kept the score moving by attacking Ravindra Jadeja. Garg took over when Sam Curran came into the attack, smashing three fours and a six in a 22-run 17th over to change the momentum. Suddenly, from a total of 130 odd, SRH were staring at 160+. Garg was not slogging - he was picking gaps and his areas to perfection, manipulating the bowling. He crossed his half-century in just 23 balls to power SRH to 164 for 5.
Add to it a couple of drop catches, and CSK’s woes continued.
CSK don’t start well
It’s been an issue for CSK this year. Their openers have just not fired. Shane Watson continued his bad form and was bowled to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ambati Rayudu got a peach of a delivery from T Natarajan. Faf du Plessis was needlessly run out. At the end of 6 overs, CSK were already playing catch up game at 36 for 3.
The much talked about MS Dhoni promotion happened, with the captain walking out at No. 5. Soon, Kedar Jadhav fell to leave CSK 42 for 4 in the 9th over.
CSK came close… or did they?
Dhoni and Jadeja did what the former is known for - take the game deep. They batted out Rashid Khan for just 12 runs in his 4 overs, but did not give him a wicket. By the time his spell was finished, CSK needed 78 off 24. It became 63 off 18, 44 off 12 and 28 off the last over, as Jadeja went past his half-century.
But a tiring Dhoni at the other end couldn’t quite finish things, and Sam Curran had little time to do his thing. In the end, CSK appeared to have come close in the scorecard but it was of little use.