Abhishek, bowlers give Hyderabad easy win over Chennai

Abhishek Sharma wallopped 27 runs in one over to flamboyantly set up Sunrisers Hyderabad for a six-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings on Friday. Nitish Reddy picked a slower ball from Deepak Chahar and lofted it over his head to give Hyderabad a convincing win after a small stutter when they had lost two wickets in three overs. 

But with Travis Head and Aiden Markram combining for a vital 60-run stand for the second wicket, Sunrisers had generated enough momentum to ride to an easy win.

CSK were always behind in the match after putting up a batting performance that had nothing remarkable to speak about barring Shivam Dube again punishing spinners and pacers alike. Chasing 166 could have been difficult but Sunrisers coming out blazing in the Powerplay meant CSK had little time to test them with three spinners.

Dropping Head in the first over—Moeen Ali putting down a shoulder-high edge off Deepak Chahar—was an ominous start to the chase. But Sharma really rubbed it in the next over from Mukesh Choudhary, hitting him for 6,6,6 and 4 to get 27 runs. He departed next over but not before pulling Chahar for a six and slapping him over cover point for four.

It allowed Chahar to make a quick comeback in the form of a seven-run over but Markram and Head hit Tushar Deshpande for three boundaries in the next over to propel Sunrisers to 78/1, their third-highest Powerplay score in the IPL.

A quick 60-run stand between Head and Markram proved to be useful as Sunrisers' run-rate started tapering off once Markram was trapped leg-before by Moeen Ali. Another successful leg-before appeal against Shahbaz Ahmed made the equations a little more interesting but all Sunrisers needed was a boundary to release the pressure.

Out came the switch hit from Nitish Reddy, guiding Jadeja through backward point for a boundary and Sunrisers required less than a run per ball from there. In hindsight, CSK were probably 20 short of the desired total, especially with the way they had started.

At a venue where more than 500 runs were scored not long ago, CSK however were just not allowed to accelerate partly because of a completely different surface but mostly because of the way Sunrisers Hyderabad recalibrated their bowling. Between Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat, Sunrisers took three wickets but more importantly conceded at just a shade over seven per over.

Rachin Ravindra fell trying to play across the line, Ruturaj Gaikwad thrilled with a massive six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar but that was it, as did Ajinkya Rahane who became slower once the ball became older. Shivam Dube was a glaring exception though, striking at 187 while his teammates struggled to connect.

All seemed well till the ninth over as CSK went at over nine per over. But Sunrisers took their mandatory time-out and didn't bowl a single over of spin after that. That meant CSK had to deal with a barrage of bouncers, sixth stump balls and slower deliveries for the rest of the innings. And the struggle showed. Not one six was hit after the 12th over, that too because Dube batted like it was Chennai a week ago, hitting through bowlers' lines and over their heads.

The first hint of width from Shahbaz Ahmed and Dube hoicked it over long-on for a six. Mayank Markande, usually Sunrisers' more successful spinner, gave the ball some air and Dube went down to sweep him over deep square-leg. But T Natarajan bore the brunt of that assault, getting clobbered for back-to-back sixes as Dube raised 50 runs with Ajinkya Rahane off just 28 balls.

It took a round-the-wicket slower bouncer from Pat Cummins to finally fox Dube, reaching out to it and tamely guiding to Kumar parked at backward point. As long as Dube was batting, CSK were scoring at 10 runs per over.

Post that, CSK could only manage 50 runs at seven per over, adding just 85 runs in the 11 overs since Sunrisers last bowled spin. Ravindra Jadeja got some success trying to force a few shots, but neither Rahane before him nor Daryll Mitchell later could adjust to the two-paced nature of the pitch. Three balls were all MS Dhoni had when he came out to bat at the fall of Mitchell's wicket but even, he couldn't conjure the magic CSK were hoping and praying for.