All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s impressive 3/22 and Devon Conway’s superb unbeaten fifty (77 off 57) powered Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a clinical seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, here on Friday.
It was CSK’s fourth win in the ongoing season and they are at the third spot in the points table. On the other hand, it was Sunrisers’ fourth loss in six games and they lie at the ninth spot.
SRH didn’t manage to put enough runs on the board in front of CSK’s impressive effort with the ball as they were restricted to 134/7 in 20 overs.
In reply, Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad (35 off 30) provided a fantastic start as the duo put on 87 runs for the first wicket. Despite a slow run rate in the middle overs, CSK wrapped up the win in the penultimate over with eight balls to spare.
Put into bat first, SRH got off to a modest start, scoring 45/1 in the powerplay. In the next four overs post-powerplay, the visitors collected just 31 runs with the bat and lost a crucial wicket in the form of their opener Abhishek, who went for a pull against Jadeja but the ball hit the higher side of his bat, and ballooned to long-on where Ajinkya Rahane pouched it safely.
Halfway through the innings, SRH were 76/2. Soon, Jadeja struck again dismissing Rahul Tripathi for 21. Spinner Maheesh Theekshana then trapped skipper Aiden Markam, with Dhoni doing the stumping job behind the wicket. Jadeja was at his classic best as he claimed his third in the next over and half of Sunrisers players headed back to the pavilion in 15 overs.
There was no respite for SRH from CSK bowling attack as Matheesha Pathirana put further dent, dismissing Heinrich Klassen in the 18th over. With 32 runs coming off the last five overs along with a run-out on the last ball as SRH finished with 134/7.
In reply, CSK had a fantastic start as the opening duo of Conway and Ruturaj stitched an 87-run partnership for the first wicket.
Sunrisers tried keeping a tight leash on CSK’s innings and they got a much-needed breakthrough in the 11th over as Gaikwad got run out at the non-striker’s end in an unfortunate way, followed by Mayank Markande dismissing Ajinkya Rahane in the 15th over.
With 24 needed of 30, Markande picked up his second wicket as he cleaned up Ambati Rayudu in the 17th over. Then Conway hit Umran Malik for a back-to-back boundary after two dots and as many as singles in the 18th over. Conway started the penultimate over with a single and later Moeen Ali sealed the deal for CSK with a boundary.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/7 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 34 off 26, Rahul Tripathi 21 off 21; Ravindra Jadeja 3/22) lost to Chennai Super Kings 138-3 in 18.4 overs (Devon Conway 77 not out off 57, Ruturaj Gaikwad 35 off 30; Mayank Markande 2/23) by 7 wickets.
