Sunrisers Hyderabad defeat Chennai Super Kings by 7 runs to register second win of the tournament in four games. For Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings, this one will make three loses in a row and they sit very bottom of the table.
David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first on a tough batting pitch, English Man Bairstow got out early in the first over for duck, Manish Pandey (29 runs of 21 balls) added 46 runs for second wicket before falling to Thakur.
Sunrisers got into early troubles after losing David Warner (28 runs from 29 balls) and Kane Williamson(9 runs from13 ball) in consecutive balls. At the end of 11th over Hyderabad were 69/4, before young duo Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma (31 runs from 24 balls) added 77 runs in just 7 overs for 5th wicket partnership. The Long time Friends duo helped Hyderabad to score 164/5 on a really tough pitch to bat on.
After disappointing outing in first couple of games, India’s under-19 captain Priyam Garg is adjudged man of the Match for his quick fifty, 51 runs in 26 balls (six 4’s and one 6’s).
Super Kings top-order batting woes continues
Super Kings came into this Match on back of two defeats and they made couple of Changes to starting XI. Misfiring Opener Murali Vijay lost his place to Ambati Rayudu, Ruturaj Gaikwad also replaced by Thakur. West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo comes in place of Josh Hazlewood.
Chennai off to a catastrophic start while chasing modest target of 165. Bhuvneshwar Kumar rattled Shane Watson’s ( 1 run in 6 balls) wood in the third over before Natarajan did the same for Ambati Rayudu (8 runs in 9 balls) in 6th over.
Ever consistent Faf Du Plessis (22 runs from 19 balls) unfortunate run out dismissal added more woes to already sinking Chennai top-order. Ravindra Jadeja and skipper MS Dhoni added 72 runs for 5th wicket but it’s too late and too little for Chennai.
Sunrisers spinners bowled really well on a slow pitch especially Rashid Khan,who was unplayable. Bhuvi injured his ankle while bowling his final over of the spell, Skipper David Warner picked 18 -years old J&K all-rounder Samad, to bowl final over of the game.The young leg spinner bowled really well under huge pressure.
Chennai needs to sort out so many things before it gets too late for them. Dhoni’s Team selection and his own batting position is the main reason behind their early struggles in the tournament. Hopefully three time Champions will find their way back to winning ways, they never lost Three games in row in recent times.
Priyam Garg, Man of the Match award winner:
“I felt very good in there, because it’s a big stage with senior players. I wasn’t thinking too much, just playing my natural game. I think the best thing is the team management backed me after I failed in the first game. The plan was to play my shots and their bowling helped. I’ve batted with Abhishek throughout my childhood so it was easy. There’s a positive energy in the field too after such an innings. My self-belief has grown too after such an innings.”
David Warner, Captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad:
“I backed him. I had no option. With Khaleel there, with five balls to bowl, we tried to kill the game there. Could have given it to Abhishek, but I felt with his height and how he bowled, I’d go with him. This wicket was a little bit bad as compared to the last one we played here. You don’t really get that length to pull. It was good to see a bit of swing early on. It was nice to see our guys back themselves – that was my message to these youngsters. I said it in my press conference – when these guys don’t get opportunity to bat time, it’s going to be difficult for them. I asked them what they thought was a good total, they said 150, we got 160-170.”
On Team’s Death Bowling – “These guys work really hard, 20 minutes at the start is these guys executing yorkers, length and slower balls. We work on that, executing those skills when we need to.”
Rashid Khan:
“Good to be back in form, bowling good areas. That’s what these wickets require, wicket to wicket, short of a length. To be honest I never think about wickets. I’m just focusing on my economy. I bowled my first over for one run, the next over Samad got a wicket. I was happy with my figures. I think batsmen don’t go big shots unless I bowl lose deliveries. I’m trying my best to minimise loose deliveries. The time will come when I’ll take wickets as well. I think the ability the young guys have, they tried their best to deliver after working hard in training. It’s a good thing for the team that the youngsters excuted. Samad is a strong hitter of the ball and he delivered with the ball. He was so relaxed, so calm. That’s what I like about him. When the captain told him he’ll bowl the last over, he was smiling. He tried his best to give 100%. You need to be in the middle, keep smiling and enjoying bowling. That’s what I do as well.”
MS Dhoni, Captain of Chennai Super Kings:
“I was not able to middle a lot of deliveries, maybe trying to hit the ball too hard. Looking at the outfield, it was subconscious. I’m alright, the throat starts to get dry in these sort of conditions. Long time back, we may or may not have lost three in a row. We have to get a lot of things right. It’s the professionalism – dropping catches, bowling no-balls. We’re making the same mistakes again. After the 16th over, we had two bad overs. Overall we could have been slightly better. Nobody wants to drop catches, but at this level you have to draw a line that these catches have to be taken. Catches like these can really hamper your knockout stage games. What if this was a knockout game? There are plenty of positives in this game. A few areas to improve and we’ll come back stronger.”
