Pune: Opener Ambati Raydu (100 n o, 62b, 7×4, 7×6) smashed his maiden century in the IPL as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coasted to an easy eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to virtually seal a play-off berth here, Sunday.
The 32-year-old Rayudu stitched a 134-run stand with opening partner Shane Watson (57, 35b, 5×4, 3×6) to lay the foundation of the comprehensive victory. The SRH bowlers looked hardly any threat to the duo as a misunderstanding while searching for a quick single, cost Watson his wicket through run-out.
Suresh Raina too departed shortly before skipper MS Dhoni (20 n o) joined hands with Rayudu to chase down a target of 180 with an over to spare.
CSK also snapped SRH’s six-match winning streak this season. SRH, who have already qualified for the play-offs, remained on top of the table with 18 points from 12 matches while CSK are at second with 16 points from the same number of matches.
Earlier, SRH opener Shikhar Dhawan (79, 49b, 10×4, 3×6) and skipper Kane Williamson (51, 39b, 5×4, 2×6) struck fluent half centuries to take SRH to 179 for four after being sent in to bat. Dhawan and Williamson shared a 123-run stand for the second wicket after the early departure of Alex Hales.
The visitors were off to a slow start with just 29 runs in the powerplay, mainly due to a fine spell of bowling by CSK pacer Deepak Chahar (1/16). At 62 for one in first 10 overs, they shifted gears in the second half with wickets in hand and added 115 runs in the last 10 overs.
Brief scores
SRH 179/4 (Shikhar Dhawan 79, Kane Williamson 51; Shardul Thakur 2/32) lost to CSK 180/2 (Ambati Rayudu 100 n o, Shane Watson 57; Sandeep Sharma 1/36) by eight wickets.
