The MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings were in fine form against the struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning by 7 wickets to go to the top of the points table.
CSK were driven on by openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis, who took the the SRH bowling to task, putting on a match-winning century stand before Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina added the finishing touches.
Batting first, an out of touch SRH lost their inform opener Jonny Bairstow for 7 when Sam Curran had him pulling it straight down Deepak Chahar’s throat.
David Warner, who had difficult time with the bat initially, was joined by Manish Pandey, and they steadied the ship.
While Warner found it difficult to get going and was even playing at less than a run-a-ball at times, Pandey was more fluent.
Through the middle overs, SRH’s batters continued to struggle to find the big hits and the gaps as the likes of Lungi Ngidi, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran kept things tight right after the Powerplay.
Midway through the innings, Warner and Mandey started to score more freely but still had enough to do as CSK a lid on proceedings.
Pandey was the first of the two to bring up his half century, in the 14th over before Warner too started to get going, hitting his 200th six in the IPL on his way to his fifty.
In the 17th over, Warner and Pandey brought up their 100-run stand, keeping SRH in the hunt for a good finish.
Warner, desperate to accelerate, was unable to continue in his quest, falling to Ngidi with Ravindra Jadeja taking the catch. Warner was dismissed for 57 off 55, after an uncharacteristic innings.
Pandey followed a few deliveries later for 61, with Faf du Plessis completing a brilliant catch at long on in the 18th over.
However, that’s when Kane Williamson decided to take charge, hammering Shardul Thakur for 20 in the 19th, with three fours and a six to push SRH above 150.
While Williamson could not get Sam Curran away in the final over, Kedar Jadhav took 10 off the last two with an emphatic pick up over the leg side off the last ball to finish things off.
Williamson remained unbeaten on 26 off 10 while Jadhav had 12 off 4 as SRH scored 171/3.
In response, CSK made it look far easier than SRH had it during their innings with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis getting the chase off to a flyer.
It was Faf who started off as the more aggressive batter while Gaikwad played with caution as CSK made good use of the fielding restrictions, racing away to 50 by the end of the 6 overs.
The South African put all his experience to good use as he dominated the SRH bowling early on. The CSK openers put on a show as SRH struggled to come to terms with the batters calculated attacking methods.
The openers put on 129 runs in 13 overs before Gaikwad was the first to depart, cleaned up Rashid Khan after scoring 75 off 44 deliveries, smashing 12 fours during his knock.
Both Faf and Gaikwad played with a mix of delicate touches which consistently found the gap between keeper and short third man or a flying slip along with powerful hits that left fielders watching on helplessly.
Faf was joined by Moeen Ali, who was off to a quick start, hitting three boundaries during his first 7 deliveries before becoming Rashid’s second wicket on the evening.
The Afghanistan spin ace then finished his spell with the wicket of Faf du Plessis off the next ball for 56 off 38, with the score at 148/3 after 15 overs.
CSK had Ravindra Jadeja, their hero from the previous game, joined by Suresh Raina as they looked to polish off the remaining runs in what was becoming a close chase.
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