CSK return in the winning zone with the victory over SRH
Image: Collected
|| Indian Correspondent ||
The second half of the Indian Premier League 2020 started with the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Taking on each other at the same venue where they had played their first game, CSK successfully beat the opponent with an all-round show.
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. They made a change in the squad as well where the newcomer N Jagadeesan made way for the veteran Piyush Chawla in the playing eleven. On the other hand, SRH added Shahbaz Nadeem in place of all-rounder Abhishek Sharma in the playing XI.
With much surprise, CSK made changes in their opening pair too. To get a flying start, they sent in Sam Curran to open the batting along with the veteran Faf du Plessis. While the latter got out for a first-ball duck, Curran’s big-hitting ability came in handy as his knock of 31 off 21 deliveries helped them to score quickly inside the power play.
After his dismissal, Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu steadied the ship and they were successful to take on the spin magician Rashid Khan, who failed to take a wicket in his 4-over spell, conceding 30 runs as well.
However, both of them got out after scoring 42 and 41 respectively, their 81-run stand set the stage for MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to finish the innings with a decent competitive total. Meanwhile, they smashed a combined 46 runs off 23 balls and post 167 in their allotted 20 overs.
While chasing, SRH were expecting a flying start from their openers – David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. However, apart from the, they have a strong top order to turn the table. However, CSK had some other plans as they were successful in taking early wickets.
While David Warner was a victim of Curran for mere 9, Manish Pandey was short of his crease after Dwayne Bravo hit the stumps and he got out for 4.
While MS Dhoni kept his spinners for the later part of the innings, Ravindra Jadeja’s accurate line and length in bowling troubled the batsmen and Jonny Bairstow eventually became a victim as well for 23. However, Kane Williamson tried his best to build a partnership but no one could step up.
Priyam Garg was seen struggling in his 18-ball-16 knock but Williamson scored a half-century off 39 balls with 7 fours. Meanwhile, the increasing required rate forced the SRH batsmen to hit big shots which cost their dismissals at regular intervals as well.
However, Karn Sharma sent Williamson in the dugout in his final over. Although a late onslaught from Rashid Khan was a hope for SRH, Shardul Thakur brilliantly bowled in the penultimate over, conceding 5 runs and Dwayne Bravo ended with a brilliant final over by giving away 1 run only made things worse for SRH and Chennai Super Kings registered a 20-run victory.
