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CSK vs SRH, IPL 2024: Chennai Beat Hyderabad by 78 Runs

By Yajati Keshari Rout
36

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) roared back to victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with a 78-run triumph over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In an eagerly anticipated clash between two exciting teams, CSK emerged victorious and showed why they are a dangerous side on their home turf.

 CSK’s innings was led by captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s classy 98 after being invited to bat by SRH. Daryl Mitchell supported him with a good half century, his first of the TATA IPL 2024. The finishing touches were then added by Shivam Dube with a big-hitting innings that propelled CSK past 200.

Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed in the third over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar when he tried to go over deep mid-wicket. Mitchell then joined Ruturaj in the middle and they set off on a task to stabilise the CSK innings. Gaikwad was more aggressive in the initial overs as he targeted the boundaries and ensured CSK get past 50 within the powerplay.

As the partnership built, they kept rotating the strike and found boundaries at regular intervals. Gaikwad got to his fifty in 27 balls when he hit Pat Cummins for a six over mid-wicket in the ninth over.

CSK got to their 100 in the 11th over with Mitchell finding the boundary off Natarajan. The partnership carried on and the milestones kept coming – with the century of the stand first. Mitchell then got to his half-century off 29 balls – a well-paced knock with seven fours and two sixes.

Mitchell was dismissed soon after by Jaydev Unadkat for 52 in an attempt to play a big-hit. That brought Shivam Dube to the crease, who was measured early in his innings, even as Gaikwad continued to attack the bowling and moved into the 80s in the 15th over. The 16th over saw Gaikwad move closer to the 90s with two fours off Cummins. A hundred seemed in sight with four overs to go.

Till then, Dube had faced only six balls and scored four runs. When Natarajan came on for the 17th over, he unleashed his big hitting. The margin of error for Natarajan was minimal as Dube hit him for two sixes when he missed the attempted yorkers.

Cummins too was hit for a six very straight in the next over. With that passage of play, it looked like CSK could touch 230. Unadkat bowled a good penultimate over and conceded only eight runs.

In the last over, Gaikwad fell agonisingly short of a hundred when he found mid-wicket on 98. In walked MS Dhoni to the expected fanfare and buzz. He gave the home crowd an opportunity to cheer when he flicked his first ball through square-leg for a four. Dube then swung through mid-wicket for a massive six and followed that with a single to end the CSK innings.

Considering the recent trends in the TATA IPL, SRH would have backed themselves to chase down 214. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma started off in expected fashion, targeting the boundaries. In the second over, CSK delivered a double-blow when Head tried to hit over the off-side but hit it straight to the man in the deep. Anmolpreet Singh was introduced as the Impact Player, but got an outside edge off his first ball and was caught at cover. Tushar Deshpande provided those breaks for CSK.

 

A couple of overs later, Deshpande got another big wicket when Abhishek hit it straight to the fielder at deep point. Aiden Markram and Nitish Reddy tried to bring some stability to the innings. Makram found a few boundaries, but the required rate kept rising. With a mini-partnership building, CSK got the wicket of Reddy in the ninth over with Jadeja bowling a half-tracker that mirrored a bouncer. Reddy thought of pulling but got a top-edge and was caught by Dhoni.

SRH couldn’t find the momentum due to these wickets at regular intervals and things only compounded for them when Matheesha Pathirana delivered his trademark yorker to bowl Markram out for 32 in the 11th over.

SRH never recovered from those jolts. CSK kept it tight and built pressure even against big hitters like Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad. The required rate sky-rocketed to a point it looked out of reach. SRH’s innings eventually finished on 134 and handed CSK a big win.

For CSK, the bowlers put in a collective effort, with Deshpande standing out with four wickets – three of which jolted the SRH chase at the beginning. Pathirana’s two wickets in the middle overs were also critical in helping earn a big margin. Mustafizur Rahman picked up two wickets at the end to seal the deal. Another statistical highlight was that Mitchell took five catches – the most by an outfielder in a TATA IPL match – equalling Mohammad Nabi’s feat from a match in the 2021 edition.

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