IPL 2018: Match 46, CSK vs SRH- Who Said What

The contest between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) turned out to be yet another enthralling encounter. The Sunrisers’ batsmen were exceptional, especially Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson. However, CSK made a mockery of the chase and won the game by eight wickets and with an over to spare.

Dhawan-Williamson guide the visitors

MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch which looked good for batting. The start was auspicious for them as Alex Hales perished early to Deepak Chahar, who made a comeback following his hamstring injury. Thereafter, skipper Kane Williamson joined Dhawan in the middle, looked determined and built a solid partnership of 123 runs, which laid the platform for the final flourish.

During the stand, while Dhawan notched back-to-back half-centuries, Williamson mustered his seventh fifty of this season’s IPL. However, both were dismissed by Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur respectively, which somewhat put the skids under the home team. Manish Pandey was slapped with yet another failure after which Deepak Hooda’s cameo of 21 runs got SRH up to 179/4 in 20 overs.

Rayudu and Watson carves a stupendous victory

During the run-chase, Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson took the bowling by the scruff of their necks and notched an opening partnership of 134 runs off 79 balls, which made it completely one-sided. Both the openers accomplished their half-centuries and decimated the in-form SRH bowling lineup. The Sunrisers got their first breakthrough when Williamson’s throw caught Watson short of the crease.

Sandeep Sharma got rid of Suresh Raina in the next over, which brought some momentum back for the visiting team. To SRH’s agony, Manish Pandey dropped a sitter at long-on and it gave MS Dhoni a lifeline at the start of his innings. Ambati Rayudu smacked a couple of boundaries off Shakib Al Hasan and carved his maiden IPL century, which also fetched them their eighth victory.

MS Dhoni, the skipper of Chennai Super Kings, said

 I thought the ball will swing more in the second half than what it did for us. That was a surprise. Even before IPL started I had to make space for Rayudu, because he is somebody I rate him very highly. My plan was to make Rayudu open and if Kedar was fit, he will bat at 4 or 5. Unfortunately we played one game in Chennai, but the response we got from Pune was very good. The fans watch the game despite the stadium being quite far.”

Player of the Match, Ambati Rayudu, said

It’s a good position to bat in T20s. I am enjoying it right now. There’s no secret. We are backing ourselves and communicating very well. He has been of great help to me. I was ready to open. If you are good at 4-day cricket, you can bat at any position. I am really happy to be back in the Indian team, hopefully I will do well there.

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