(IPL) The Chennai Super Kings returned to the top of the VIVO IPL 2019 standings after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium last night. The Super Kings’ chase of 176 was powered by Shane Watson’s stroke-filled 96; the hosts got over the line with one ball to spare.
The Super Kings lost opener Faf du Plessis in the third over, but the chase was put back on the trails almost straightaway by an 87-run stand between Watson and Suresh Raina. After Raina (38 from 24 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) was dismissed in the tenth over, Watson took control of proceedings. Playing at just over a run-a-ball, Watson timed his acceleration brilliantly, and helped himself to 96; he was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved hundred, top-edging a short-pitched delivery off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with his team on the brink.
For the Sunrisers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-18), Khaleel Ahmed (0-26) and Shakib al Hasan (0-27) were economical with the ball, while Sandeep Sharma (3.5-0-54-1) and Rashid Khan (1-44) had a poor day.
In the evening, the Sunrisers, asked to bat first, got to 175-3 riding on David Warner’s 57 (45 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) and Manish Pandey’s 83 not out. The visitors were without regular captain Kane Williamson, and therefore had to alter their XI; Shakib al Hasan and Manish Pandey made the playing XI.
After Jonny Bairstow ended his season with a second-ball duck, Warner and Pandey stitched together a 115-run partnership to put the innings back on track. Both batsmen matched each other stroke-for-stroke early on and helped SRH reach 54-1 at the end of the powerplay. The pair not only ran well between the wickets, but also kept picking up the boundaries regularly. Pandey brought up his half-century in the eleventh over – getting there in 25 balls, while Warner reached the milestone in the following over, getting there in 39 deliveries.
Warner was dismissed in the fourteenth over when he was beaten in the air by a tossed up delivery from Harbhajan Singh, and MS Dhoni whipped off the stumps pretty easily. It was that wicket – at 120-2 in 13.3 overs – that cost Sunrisers momentum. Despite a well-set Manish batting at one end, the Sunrisers could never hit the acceleration gear; they only managed 55 runs off the final 39 balls.
For the Super Kings, the wickets were shared between Harbhajan Singh (2-39) and Deepak Chahar (1-30).
Standout batting performances
Shane Watson had struggled for runs for most part of the season gone by. But on Tuesday night, he was in his elements and destroyed the Sunrisers bowling attack. The Australian began cautiously; he played out a maiden at the start of the chase and crawled to 37 from 31 balls at the end of the eleventh over. It was at this stage that he switched gears; he hit Sandeep Sharma for two fours and brought up his half-century with a huge six.
With the shackles broken, Watson had switched into attack mode and took the bowling head on. In the fourteenth over, he picked out the Sunrisers’ most potent bowler – Rashid Khan – and hit him for two fours and a six. In the next over, he collected consecutive boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Rashid Khan received some more punishment in the sixteenth over – this time getting hit for a boundary and a six. Watson, who had brought up his half-century off 35 balls, raced to 96 off 52 balls before falling to a brilliant catch by Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps. Not surprisingly, Watson peppered the leg-side – the region between square-leg to long-on was his preferred scoring region; he hit all his six sixes and four of his nine boundaries in that region.
In the evening, Manish Pandey impressed upon his return to the Sunrisers XI; he opened his account with a boundary hit straight back over the bowler’s head. He was relentless early on, racing to 27 from 12 at the end of the powerplay. There was a brief period of calm immediately once the fielding restrictions were eased, but picked up pace yet again from the tenth over. Pandey, who scored the bulk of his runs down the ground, brought up his fifty in the eleventh over.
After Warner’s dismissal, Pandey was deprived of strike when being the set-batsman he should have faced the bulk of the deliveries; Pandey only faced 15 balls out of the final 39 deliveries.
Stat of the Match
With this win, the Chennai Super Kings have extended their domination of Sunrisers Hyderabad; they now have a 9-3 win-loss record over SRH.
With this win, the Chennai Super Kings have now won their last seven matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings: 176-4 in 19.5 overs (Shane Watson 96, Suresh Raina 38) defeated
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 175-3 (David Warner 57, Manish Pandey 83) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match
Shane Watson, for his 53-ball 96.
