MS Dhoni’s return as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain did wonders as they defeated the Sunrises Hyderabad by 13 runs to win their second game in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. After setting a mammoth 203-run target, the yellow army restricted Kane Williamson & Co to 189 for 6, sweeping away a remarkable win on Sunday night at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
Chasing a 203-run target was never easy for SRH and the duo of Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma started off accordingly. They went berserk after inexperienced Mukesh Choudhary and debutant Simarjeet Singh, smashing a flurry of boundaries to bring a 50-run opening stand inside the powerplay.
IPL FULL COVERAGE , SCHEDULE , RESULTS , ORANGE CAP , PURPLE CAP
They added 58 runs for the opening wicket before the Choudhary broke the opening pair in the sixth over. Abhishek went for a lofted pull off a slower delivery and was caught by Dwaine Pretorius at the long-on. The left-arm pacer struck on the very next ball and got the better of Rahul Tripathi for a first-ball duck, creating a hat-trick chance for himself but he had to wait for that as skipper MS Dhoni decided to bring in the spin attack.
Meanwhile, Kane Williamson was joined by Aiden Markram and they added another 30 runs to the total. The partnership didn’t go further as Mitchell Santner struck in the 10th over and bettered Markram for 17.
The dismissal of the South African batter made way for Nicholas Pooran who, along with captain Williamson started to rebuild the innings. But as soon as they got the rhythm, Pretorius trapped the latter and jolted SRH’s chase once again. Williamson missed out on a fifty, getting dismissed for 47 in the 15th over.
Now the onus was on Pooran’s shoulders but he lacked solid support from the other end. Choudhary returned to bowl his second spell and though he failed to complete the hat-trick, he triggered SRH’s middle-order collapse.
Earlier, CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway hammered the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack into submission, notching up a scintillating 182-run partnership, the highest opening stand of the season, to post an imposing 202 for 2.
Gaikwad (99 off 57 balls) was at his destructive best as he smashed six sixes and as many fours before falling short of a deserving hundred by just one run. His opening partner Conway, playing only his second game of the season, made an unbeaten 85 off 55 balls studded with eight hits to the fence and four maximums.
Gaikwad was in his zone as he stood on his back foot, waiting for the ball to come to him and played some exceptional shots to dominate the formidable SRH bowling unit. Anything short was pulled with immaculate ease, while pitched up deliveries were treated with equal disdain as Gaikwad didn’t miss a trick to send SRH on a leather hunt during his classy innings.
Conway too showed great temperament as he was the perfect foil for Gaikwad. He bide his time initially before going for the big shots in the slog overs.
(With Agency Inputs)
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates and Cricket Scores here
,