Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway welcomed MS Dhoni back into the role of captaincy for the Chennai Super Kings with a record partnership against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune. While Gaikwad and Conway did the trick with the bat, Mukesh Choudhary picked 4 wickets to derail the Sunrisers Hyderabad, for whom Kane Williamson and Nicholas Pooran fought valiantly.
With that, CSK won by 13 runs and picked up another couple of points.
Batting first, the Chennai Super Kings looked a far cry from what they had dished out so far. Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway were timing it brilliantly and were toying with the SRH bowlers during their big partnership.
Gaikwad and Conway, well aware of CSK’s opening partnership woes this season, started out watchfully, and got through the powerplay with 40 on the board. The runs may have been less at that point in time, but the openers were set and Gaikwad especially was starting to break free, having whacked Marco Jansen for a six with a nonchalant pull to bring up his 1000th run in the IPL.
After that, SRH turned to Umran Malik for some fiery bowling but Gaikwad was happy to see him in the attack, despatching him for a 13-run over, with a six and four in that. Conway attacked Aiden Markram at the other end and the duo continued in the same manner for the next couple of overs, taking CSK to 100 in 11 overs. Gaikwad, who got to his fifty in the 10th with a boundary off Umran, clobbered Markram for back to back sixes as well, and was not showing any signs of slowing down.
Gaikwad brought out the majestic drives in the v and the crashing shots square of the wicket with great aplomb. It would seem that since the change in captaincy, a switch had flicked in Gaikwad, who was back to his dangerous best in Pune. At 133/0 in 14 overs, Gaikwad was eyeing a century while Conway had a fifty in sight, while CSK were setting up for a grandstand finish.
Conway brought up his fifty with a six over the keeper off the top edge of Jansen, in an over that produced 20 runs. The openers were dealing in boundaries in the slog overs, with even the likes of T Natarajan going for runs. The left-arm pacer though was able to get the first breakthrough for SRH in the 18th over, when he had Gaikwad caught by Bhuvneshwar for a brilliant 99.
Conway had MS Dhoni for company, who added 8 to the cause before Natarajan had his number too. Conway though was able to finish off the innings with a flurry of boundaries, unbeaten on 85 with CSK having posted 202/2.
In response of the stiff chase, Hyderabad started off well as young Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson went about building in their usual manner. Sharma taking the attack to the bowlers from one end while Williamson was setting himself up to bat through.
The openers found the fence with ease, and Sharma hammered five boundaries and a six, scoring freely in the powerplay, staying with the required run-rate, before Mukesh Choudhary got the breakthrough. Just before the end of the sixth over, Choudhary had Sharma caught for 39 off 24 deliveries and then ended the powerplay with Rahul Tripathi walking back for a golden duck.
Williamson started slow at his but was beginning to get a move on and was aided by Aiden Markram, who was looking for the fences from the get go. The South African clobbered Mitch Santner for a couple of consecutive sixes before the Kiwi had the final say, as Ravindra Jadeja held on in the deep. Markram added 17 quick runs to the cause.
The wickets slowed down SRH and Williamson felt the pressure, and succumbed, trapped LBW for by Dwaine Pretorius for 47 off 37 deliveries. Meanwhile, Nicholas Pooran at the other end had found his range and was teeing off, sending it deep into the stands. At the 15 over mark, SRH were 131/4 with Pooran and Shashank Singh looking for the big hits.
Shashank could not survive for too long and was gone for 15 as Choudhary picked his third wicket and finished the over with Washington Sundar’s scalp as well. SRH were in a fair amount of trouble and had a mountain to climb.
Pooran was dropped twice in the 19th off Pretorius during an over before the final went for 24 runs as CSK won by 13 runs. In those two overs which gave SRH 36 runs, Pooran got to his half-century and had a bit of fun, ending the game unbeaten on 64.
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