Chennai Super Kings suffered their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, after Abhishek Sharma’s blitz and a clinical bowling spell guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to a six-wicket victory on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
After a clinical bowling display, it was Abhishek’s batting masterclass for just 12 balls that defined the outcome of the game.
While chasing 166, Travis Head and Abhishek went all guns blazing in the opening overs of the powerplay.
Deepak Chahar’s first over witnessed Moeen Ali dropping Head’s catch. The Australian rubbed salt on CSK’s wounds by smashing a six on the final ball.
Mukesh Choudhary fell on the receiving end in the next over, as Abhishek smashed three sixes and a four to walk away with 27 runs.
Abhishek’s subtle timing of the shot continued to mesmerize the Hyderabad crowd. He tonked an 86m six in Chahar.
The CSK pacer struck back in the next delivery and brought an end to the fireworks from Abhishek’s bat (37 off 12 deliveries).
Head and Aiden Markram showed composure in the next overs as they picked their moments to score runs.
SRH put up 78/1 on board which was their third-best score in the powerplay.
Maheesh Theekshana brought an end to a 60-run stand between the batters raising hopes of a late comeback.
But the damage caused in the powerplay ensured that SRH remained on top. Markram was dismissed by Moeen moments after he completed his half-century. Moeen struck again by removing Shahbaz Ahmed.
Nitish Reddy struck a maximum to seal the game for SRH and clinch a six-wicket victory with eleven deliveries to spare.
Shivam Dube top-scored for CSK with 45 off 24 while Ajinkya Rahane played a crucial knock of 35 runs in 30 deliveries. Bhuvneshwar, T Natarajan, Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat bagged one wicket each as SRH restricted CSK to a moderate total.
Opening the charge for the CSK after they were put to bat, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra gave Chennai a controlled start by picking 7 runs off Abhishek Sharma in the first over of the game.
The seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar drew the first blood as he bagged the big wicket of Rachin Ravindra on 12. Captain Pat Cummins’ decision to get Shahbaz Ahmed’s spin prowess into the game proved successful as he dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad on his very first ball of the 8th over.
Shivam Dube did not let SRH celebrate the Ruturaj dismissal for long as he started his innings with a six and a four in the very same over. Dube picked up 11 from the very over that saw the CSK captain depart.
With his explosive batting, Dube picked two huge sixes and brought up the fifty partnership with Ajinkya Rahane within just 29 balls.
Cummins got the wicket of the dangerous Dube on his score of 45 (23). The Hyderabad skipper took up the job to get rid of Dube, who had been in a punishing mood in front of the other pace options of SRH.
The slower balls did the trick for SRH as Jaydev Unadkat with his off-pace ball removed well-set batter Rahane for 35. Rahane tried big-hitting after Dube’s dismissal but a phenomenal catch by Mayank Markande brought his innings to an end at 35 (30).
With 16 overs gone, the situation required Ravindra Jadeja and Daryl Mitchell to shift into a big-hitting mode and get some much-needed runs. Bhuvneshwar brought in his experience when his side required it, as he conceded only 6 runs from the 19th over of the match.
In the last over of the game, Natarajan dismissed Daryl Mitchell inviting MS Dhoni to bat. The crowd erupted in loud chants as the crowd-favourite wicketkeeper-batter came onto the crease to face the last three balls of the innings. Jadeja played a decent hand to help CSK post 165/5.
Brief score: Chennai Super Kings 165/5 (Shivam Dube 45, Ajinkya Rahane 35; Pat Cummins 1-29) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 166/4 (Aiden Markram 50, Abhishek Sharma 37; Abhishek Sharma 2-23).
