@B0$
Sunrisers Hyderabad marched into the top-four with a 10-run victory over Chennai Super Kings at home. CSK's own death-bowling performance - which restricted the hosts to 194 despite half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen - was surpassed by Hyderabad's who recorded their second successive win. CSK failed to mount a challenge with the bat in reply, losing wickets in a heap despite being comfortably set at 111/3 at the halfway point.
@B1$
@B2$Sunrisers Hyderabad 194/9 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 59 off 22, Heinrich Klaasen 59 off 39; Anshul Kamboj 3-22, Jamie Overton 3-37) beat Chennai Super Kings 184/8 in 20 overs (Matthew Short 34 off 30, Ayush Mhatre 30 off 13; Eshan Malinga 3-29) by 10 runs
@B3$
Kinda. The destructive pair put on a typically brisk 75-run stand in 5.5 overs to lay the platform but Abhishek led the charge there. The first-half of the Powerplay saw only 23 runs posted, and then in the next 16 balls all hell broke loose. After getting his eye in against the offie, Abhishek took on Matthew Short for 4,4,4,6,6 to race to a 15-ball fifty by the end of the fifth over. Head joined the party with three boundaries off Mukesh Choudhary in the sixth over. Choudhary then ended the Powerplay by taking wickets off successive deliveries, sending the Australian and then the SRH skipper Ishan Kishan packing.
@B4$
Because of the middle-overs squeeze. Noor Ahmed saw Abhishek dropped off his bowling right after Powerplay, but Jamie Overton ensured the damage wasn't much when he reviewed a caught-behind call to send him back to the hut. Overton kept breaking the middle-order partnerships, preventing SRH from regaining momentum. Even the impact sub, Liam Livingstone, didn't add much to their tally. Curiously, Choudhary never came to bowl again despite being on a hat-trick. However, Anshul Kamboj and Gurjapneet did a fantastic job at the backend, giving away only 17 for 4 wickets in the last three overs between them to restrict SRH.
@B5$
CSK's Powerplay performance matched SRH's, but they lost an extra wicket by the end of it. The openers lined up Praful Hinge early but Nitish Reddy struck first ball to remove Sanju Samson cheaply. Ayush Mhatre and Ruturaj Gaikwad carried forward the attack, putting on a 51-run partnership in just 20 deliveries but Mhatre's hamstring issue caused a momentum break. Klaasen had dropped a tough catch earlier to reprieve Mhatre, and it cost SRH 30 runs in 12 balls before the South African could redeem himself. Eshan Malinga, then, also struck first ball to send back the CSK skipper and even the scales.
@B6$
Cameos around Short. The Australian was the anchor, but had support in Sarfaraz Khan, who chipped in a 19-ball 25, and then Shivam Dube, who hit a six and a four in his 16-ball 21. The wickets fell in pairs though, leaving CSK with much to do at the backend.
@B7$
Malinga's two crucial strikes firmly put SRH in control. CSK needed 84 in the last ten overs but losing set batters there cost them heavily. Malinga accounted for both Sarfraz and Short, finishing with an impressive 3-29 from his four overs. In between, Dewald Brevis made a duck. Even though a struggling Overton tried his best to keep CSK in the hunt, losing regular wickets in the second half proved fatal.
@B8$
SRH have another home game where they take on Delhi Capitals on Tuesday (April 21). CSK head to Mumbai for the Thursday (April 23) fixture against MI.
