Match Review

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Vijay Shankar’s cameo certainly shifted the gears for the Sunrisers on the night after a shaky start early on in the innings. Coming into bat after Manish Pandey exited the scene, the responsibility was on his shoulders to put up an aggressive performance while Warner steadied the ship from the other end. While he did take a few balls to get well settled in, once he did start scoring, there was really no stopping from the three-time IPL champions. In the end, he scored a 20-ball 45, scoring four boundaries and three sixes against the star-studded Chennai bowling unit. 

Highs and Lows

The ever-dependable CSK’s star-man, Suresh Raina was the ultimate disappointment in this particular fixture after exiting the scene early. Prior to this encounter, Raina’s performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in particular against Rashid Khan and co have been excellent. The same was expected from the southpaw in this particular contest when he walked in to bat very early on. After showing glimpses of promise for the tourists, with a boundary, he messed it up, getting out for a four-ball six to leave the visitors in a troubled fashion. 

Rating Charts

Deepak Chahar’s opening spell took the thunder away from the Sunrisers opening duo of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner. First, he struck to remove the English opener for a first-ball duck before he accounted for the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson, with the score just reading 18/2. From 18/2, it was always going to be a herculean task for Warner and Manish Pandey to resurrect the innings. While the Australian opener ended the powerplay phase, scoring a 22-ball 18, Pandey scored a run ball ten runs to take Sunrisers to a total of 31 for the loss of two wickets. 

On the other hand, in contrasting fashion, CSK got themselves off to a steady start, scoring 15 runs on board, with Shane Watson leading the line. Just as Watson crossed the mark to the other end, Proteas batsman Faf du Plessis fell in a hurry after a three-ball one. While even Suresh Raina struggled with the scoring rate, his partner at the other end, Watson continued to showcase some of the best batting in T20s. He continued to dominate the proceedings, taking the men in Yellow to a grand total of 51 for the loss of two wickets. 

It was during the middle-overs where Sunrisers looked a formidable force, one that they had shown during the 2016 IPL season that they won convincingly. The Australian opener, who was batting alongside the talented Indian middle-order batsman, Manish Pandey put on a show for the third wicket, with the Indian batsman scoring a 26-ball 29. Once Pandey was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, it gave the tourists a chance to make a comeback. However, a blooming partnership between Vijay Shankar and the southpaw ensured that they did not lose further wickets. In between all of this chaos, thanks to their skipper, the men in Orange scored 80 runs in the ten-over phase. 

Being 51/2, surely the game would have eyed in towards Chennai’s favour, chasing 173 for a victory away from home. However, that was not true, with CSK’s faulty middle-order coming to prove their disastrous self once again in this fixture. Rayudu’s 11-ball 18 somewhat kept the visitors going before Khaleel delivered the body blow. Once Rayudu was done and dusted, the responsibility automatically was on MS Dhoni and Shane Watson to keep the scoring rate going. However, the Australian fell prey to the crafty spinner, Sanjay Yadav, as the side in yellow dug themselves a huge grave. With the subsequent wicket of Kedar Jadhav, it all lay down to CSK’s two mainstays - Jadeja and Dhoni to keep it going. 

Just before the end-phase started, Sunrisers were still finding their scoring feet, with their total reading 111/3. However, once the death over phase started, it looked like a carnival was about to kick-off at home for the Orange Army. While Warner was still adamant at the crease, his partner at the other end, Vijay Shankar ensured that the scoring rate was flowing, not ticking. A 20-ball 45 from the Indian batsman and a flurry of boundaries towards the end by Warner ensured that the home side were ready far off from their ideal total. At the end of all the chaos, the men in Orange finished at 172 for the loss of five wickets, with Warner standing strong on 79 off 64 deliveries. 

Needing 41 runs off the last five overs, the men in Yellow’s run-chase was met with an unexpected crash, with the twin wickets of Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja in the span of two deliveries. After that, the pressure was on Dhoni and Deepak Chahar to pull off a miraculous run-chase, with the duo scoring two boundaries to keep themselves in the run-chase. However, the task of pulling off 22 runs off two overs got the better of the CSK batsmen, as they succumbed to a 12-run loss against Sunrisers. 

While the game till the last point looked one-sided, with Sunrisers walking away with the encounter, it had everything that makes a T20 contest exciting. In the first innings, it had Deepak Chahar with the early strikes, which helped the visitors get an edge before Warner’s epic finish to the first innings. In the second, fellow Australian Shane Watson lit the stage up before a great bowling effort from Rashid Khan sealed the deal for the hosts.