Sun sets in Chennai

CHENNAI: An utterly dominant Chennai Super Kings cantered to a seven-wicket victory over southern foe Sunrisers Hyderabad in a lop-sided Indian Premier League 2023 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.

Super Kings, opting to bowl first, restricted Sunrisers to a below-par 134 for seven, thanks to left-arm spinner and ‘Man of the Match’ Ravindra Jadeja’s (4-0-22-3) sheer brilliance. Chennai was never in danger of losing control over the chase and got home with eight balls left in the bank, riding on opening batter Devon Conway’s unbeaten 77 (57 balls, 12 fours, 1 six).

CSK (8 points from 6 matches), now on a two-match winning run, jumped to third on the table with the comprehensive victory while SRH (4 points from 6 matches) remains ninth after enduring its second consecutive defeat.

In the second essay, Conway extended his purple patch as the southpaw raised his third consecutive half-century. The New Zealander was particularly severe on left-arm pacer Marco Jansen, whom he smashed for four fours and a maximum in the sixth over. Conway stitched 87 runs in the company of Ruturaj Gaikwad (35) for the first wicket and stood with Moeen Ali (6 not out) when the home team crossed the line.

Earlier, Jadeja, handed the ball for the first time in the eighth over, ruled the roost in the middle phase as the SRH batters struggled to handle him. Led by Jadeja, who delivered an exemplary performance, Chennai never let Hyderabad press the accelerator at any stage.

Courtesy of CSK’s near-perfect execution, the touring team could manage only a paltry 58 for five in the last 10 overs. Sunrisers struck a mere four boundaries – all fours – in the second half of the innings and failed to find the fence for as many as 31 balls in the 11-17 over period. None of the SRH batters crossed the 35-run mark, with Abhishek Sharma, promoted to open, top-scoring with 34 (26 balls, 3 fours, 1 six).

Jadeja engineered a collapse with a wicket each in his second, third and fourth over – Hyderabad went from 71 for one to 95 for five in a span of five overs. The experienced left-arm orthodox bowler triggered the opposition’s downfall with the removal of Abhishek, who holed out to Ajinkya Rahane at long-on.

Rahul Tripathi (21) became Jadeja’s second victim when his top-edge was safely pouched by Akash Singh at fine-leg. The 34-year-old capped off his magical spell with MS Dhoni’s assistance as the Super Kings captain caught Mayank Agarwal (2), demoted to No.6, short of his crease.

Dhoni was involved in two other dismissals – Hyderabad skipper Aiden Markram (12) was caught behind off Maheesh Theekshana (1/27) while Washington Sundar (9) was run-out at the striker’s end. Rookie left-arm pacer Akash (1/17) had set the tone for the host when dashing opener Harry Brook (18) found Ruturaj at backward point.

BRIEF SCORES: Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/7 in 20 overs (Abhishek 34, R Jadeja 3/22) lost to Chennai Super Kings 138/3 in 18.4 overs (D Conway 77*, Ruturaj 35, M Markande 2/23)