Chennai: Shane Watson (96, 53b, 9×4, 6×6) scored a wonderful half century to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets in their IPL encounter here, Tuesday.
Chasing a decent target of 176 runs, CSK began their innings slowly. The situation turned worse for the home team when they lost Faf du Plessis through a run out in the third over to be reduced to 3/1.
However, Watson, who had struggled so far this season, grabbed the opportunity and played cautiously with occasional boundaries. He was ably supported by Suresh Raina (38, 24b, 6×4, 1×6) as the left hand-right hand pair added 77 runs for the second wicket before the Indian batsman’s departure as CSK reached 80/2 at the end of 10 overs.
Watson however carried on his innings, adding 80 runs for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu (21) and when it was looking like he would reach the three-figure mark, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/18) came to attack to dash the Australian’s hopes. Watson fall four runs short of his century.
Later, Kedar Jadhav (11 n o) completed the chase for CSK with a ball to spare despite losing Rayudu in the fourth ball of the final over.
Earlier, the immensely talented Manish Pandey (83 n o, 43b, 7×4, 3×6) was back in his element as his unbeaten half century powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a fighting 175/3.
Pandey and league’s current leading run-scorer David Warner (57, 45b, 3×4, 2×6) added 115 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for a decent score on what was the best batting track on offer at the Chepauk.
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh struck an early blow, having the in-form Jony Bairstow caught behind in the second over for a duck. He was the most successful bowler with figures of 2 for 39 in four overs while Deepak Chahar picked up the wicket of Vijay Shankar (26).
Despite the early dismissal of Bairstow, the visiting team didn’t get tied down as the irrepressible Warner and Pandey kept hitting those boundaries and sixes. They brought up the team’s 50 in the sixth over.
Pandey, who has not been in the best form, hit his straps, scoring freely and was not afraid to go over the top. Dhoni’s shuffling of the bowlers didn’t make much of an impact as Warner and Pandey kept attacking.
Pandey was the first to reach 50 in 25 balls, pulling one from Dwayne Bravo for a boundary. Warner was a touch slower in comparison to Pandey, but didn’t miss out when the opportunity presented itself and hit a couple of big sixes.
The pugnacious Warner fell against the run of play, victim of Dhoni’s trademark lightning quick stumping off a Harbhajan delivery. The Australian, who is leading the run charts this season, fell for 57 (45 balls, 3×4, 2X6) after adding 115 runs for the second wicket with Pandey.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/3 (Manish Pandey 83 n o, David Warner 57; Harbhajan Singh 2/39, Deepak Chahar 1/30) lost to Chennai Super Kings 176/4 (Shane Watson 96, Suresh Raina 38) by 6 wickets.