Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's combative 98 was complemented by a clinical bowling show, led by pacer Tushar Deshpande, as Chennai Super Kings defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 78 runs in the Indian Premier League in Chennai on Sunday. Gaikwad's courageous knock off 54 balls was the driving force that took 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 took CSK past the 200 mark.
In response, SRH's ultra-cautious batting approach failed again as they failed to recover from Deshpande's (4/27 in 3 overs) three-wicket burst with the new ball and squeezed the middle overs to be all out for 134 in 18.5 overs. as CSK broke their two-match losing streak.
After the win, CSK moved to the third spot with 10 points, the same as Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. SRH, who are also on 10 points, dropped to fourth place after their fourth defeat.
Chasing 213 to win, Travis Head (13) and Abhishek Sharma (15) made a fast start but Deshpande dismissed the former with a slower wide ball and then returned to remove impact sub Anmolpreet Singh with an outswinger on the stumps as the batsman went. for a golden duck.
Abhishek was then caught at deep point as Deshpande broke their back, leaving SRH at 40 for 3 in the fourth over.
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 forces, but runs were hard to come by as the bowlers executed their plans perfectly.
While Jadeja completed a brilliant spell of 4-0-22-1, Shardul Thakur continued to bowl wide outside off to frustrate the batters as CSK conceded just two boundaries in nine overs after the powerplay.
With an improbable 104 needed from 30 balls, Klaasen, Samad, Pat Cummins and Shahbaz Ahmed all holed out while Mitchell claimed five catches in the outfield during the match.
Earlier, Gaikwad missed out on a consecutive hundred by a whisker, but his 107-run stand with Mitchell was the cornerstone of CSK's innings. It is the 35th total of over 200 for CSK, the highest among all sides in T20 cricket.
Gaikwad was the star of the CSK batting as he hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings.
Opening the innings, Ajinkya Rahane (9) again suffered an early death, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earning his prized wicket in the third over, but Gaikwad kept CSK going. The skipper 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 reached his 17th IPL half-century off just 27 deliveries.
Gaikwad and Mitchell batted sensibly as they managed to maintain boundaries, with the latter also cutting in at times after a slow start (12 off 11).
As the dew set in the 12th over, the batting duo tried to take advantage as Mitchell soon brought up his maiden IPL 50 off 29 deliveries in the 13th over.
But the New Zealander failed to get going for too long and was killed in the next over by Jaydev Unadkat after putting a full toss into the hands of Nitish Kumar Reddy at deep mid-wicket.
In-form Shivam Dube then linked up with Gaikwad and the two decided to raise the bar. SRH skipper Pat Cummins was the target of the batters after being dismissed for 49 in his four overs.
Gaikwad looked set for tons but the Chennai heat and humidity seemed to affect him as his vigil ended with a tired-looking shot as T Natarajan sent him back in the final over.
Crowd favorite MS Dhoni scored five off two deliveries, including a four, while Dube deposited a full toss in the stands as the last four overs yielded 53 runs.
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