Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s belligerent 98 was complemented by a clinical bowling display, led by pacer Tushar Deshpande, as Chennai Super Kings defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 78 runs in the Indian Premier League in Chennai on Sunday. Invited to bat, Gaikwad’s valiant 54-ball knock was the driving force that propelled CSK to an imposing 212 for three. He was ably supported by Daryl Mitchell, who returned to form with a crucial 32-ball 52 before Shivam Dube’s 20-ball 39 not out to take CSK past the 200 mark.
In response, SRH’s ultra-cautious batting approach backfired again as they failed to recover from Deshpande’s three-wicket burst (4/27 in 3 overs) with the new ball and the middle overs scrambled to get it right. 134 in 18.5 overs as CSK broke their two-match losing streak.
After the victory, CSK moved to third position with 10 points, as did Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. SRH, who also have 10 points, dropped to fourth place after their fourth defeat.
Chasing 213 to win, Travis Head (13) and Abhishek Sharma (15) made quick starts but Deshpande got rid of the former with a slower wide ball and then came back to remove impact substitute Anmolpreet Singh with an outswinger onto the stumps as the batsman advanced for a golden duck.
Abhishek was caught next at deep point when Deshpande broke his back, leaving SRH at 40 for 3 in the final quarter.
Nitish Reddy (15) and Aiden Markram (32) tried to steady the ship but Ravindra Jadeja deceived the former with a bouncer while Matheesha Pathirana produced an excellent yorker to uproot the South African’s middle stump.
At 85-5 in 10.5 overs, Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad joined hands but runs were hard to come by as the bowlers executed their plans to perfection.
While Jadeja completed an excellent spell of 4-0-22-1, Shardul Thakur continued playing wide to frustrate the batsmen as CSK conceded just two boundaries in nine overs after the powerplay.
With an improbable 104 needed off 30 balls, Klaasen, Samad, Pat Cummins and Shahbaz Ahmed were level as Mitchell claimed five catches in the outfield during the match.
Earlier, Gaikwad missed successive hundreds by a whisker, but his 107-run stand with Mitchell was the cornerstone of CSK’s innings. It is CSK’s 35th 200-plus total, the most by any side in T20 cricket.
Gaikwad was CSK’s batting star as he hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings.
Opening the innings, Ajinkya Rahane (9) died early again, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking his prized wicket in the third over, but Gaikwad kept CSK going. The captain did not back down and attacked the bowlers at will as the hosts ended the powerplay at 50 for one.
In no time, 27-year-old Gaikwad completed his 17th IPL half-century off just 27 deliveries.
Gaikwad and Mitchell batted sensibly while managing to maintain boundaries, with the latter contributing periodically as well after a slow start (12 off 11).
With dew setting in in the 12th over, the batting duo looked to take advantage of it as Mitchell soon brought up his first IPL 50 off 29 deliveries in the 13th over.
But the New Zealander couldn’t get going for long and died in the sequence to Jaydev Unadkat after depositing a full toss into the hands of Nitish Kumar Reddy at mid-wicket.
In-form Shivam Dube joined Gaikwad and the two decided to up the ante. SRH captain Pat Cummins was targeted by the batsmen, having been dismissed for 49 in his four overs.
Gaikwad looked set to play back-to-back but the heat and humidity of Chennai seemed to get to him as his vigil ended with a tired-looking shot when T Natarajan sent him back in the final over.
Crowd favorite MS Dhoni scored five off two deliveries that included a four, while Dube bowled a full toss into the stands as the final four overs yielded 53 runs.
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