Pat Cummins (c) of Sunrisers Hyderabad during match 18 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on the 5th April 2024. (Sportzpics)
SRH got off to a flier in their chase thanks to Abhishek Sharma, who produced a blitzkrieg innings of 37 off a mere 12 balls, and Travis Head’s 31-run knock. Cummins lauded his openers and jested that he wouldn’t wanna come up against such free-flowing batsmen.
Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a 6-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field first as they limited CSK to 165/5 in 20 overs, before successfully chasing down the target with 11 deliveries to spare.
The Australian captain spoke about the slow nature of the pitch in the post-match presentation ceremony and explained their approach to the game with the ball.
“It was a different soil. It slowed up a little bit as the game went on,” Cummins said.
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SRH used plenty of pacers during their first innings as spinners took a back seat towards the second phase of their bowling. Cummins explained that CSK batter Shivam Dube, who made 45 of just 24 deliveries, was taking the spinners head on and hence he altered the strategy.
“Shivam was hitting it well against the spin. Thought we’ll take a chance with off-cutters,” the Australian said.
Cummins expressed delight with the win and reiterated that racking up points on the table was of utmost priority.
“The first thing is always to get the points,” the seamer reinforced.
SRH got off to a flier in their chase thanks to Abhishek Sharma, who produced a blitzkrieg innings of 37 off a mere 12 balls, to destabilise the Chennai defence. He was supported well by Australian southpaw Travis Head, who chipped in with a contribution of 31. Cummins lauded his openers and jested that he wouldn’t wanna come up against such free-flowing batsmen.
“Wouldn’t want to be bowling to Abhishek and Trav Head at the top,” the 30-year-old said.
The nearly 36000-strong crowd in Hyderabad was peppered with shades of yellow in support of former India and CSK skipper MS Dhoni. Cummins touched upon the raise in the noise levels as the World Cup winner walked out to bat the final few deliveries of the innings.
“The crowd was crazy tonight. When MS walked out, it was as loud as I’ve ever heard,” Cummins added.