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Images from the IPL 2024 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings came up with a below-par effort with the bat before Abhishek Sharma's blazing cameo and Aiden Markram's composed half-century saw Sunrisers Hyderabad cruise to a comfortable six-wicket victory in the IPL 2024 match in Hyderabad on Friday.
The SRH bowlers were very disciplined while restricting CSK to 165/5 in 20 overs with only 37 being scored off last five overs.
Abhishek Sharma then destroyed the CSK bowlers in the Powerplay, smashing a brilliant 37 from 12 balls with four sixes. The experienced Markram anchored the run chase in the middle oers with a 36-ball 50 as SRH knocked off the runs in just 18.1 overs.
His 60-run stand with opener Travis Head (31 off 24 balls) for the second wicket in seven overs after Abhishek pummeled a listless Mukesh Chaudhary, playing his first game, for 27 runs.
Champions CSK, who started with two wins, have now lost their last two games, while SRH jumped to fifth with two victories from four matches.
CSK had a chance first up but Moeen Ali dropped Head in the first over bowled by Deepak Chahar.
After that it was mayhem as 23-year-old Abhishek hit two fours and three sixes off Mukesh, who was forced selection in absence of Mustafizur Rahaman, who has taken a one-match break to go home and submit his US visa application for the T20 World Cup.
Playing his first competitive game after 16 months, Mukesh was all over the place in his only over and was taken to the cleaners.
There was no let up from the Abhishek as he also hammered Chahar for a boundary and a six in the third over, who managed to get revenge as he got the left-hander caught by Ravindra Jadeja.
Head and Markram consolidated the innings without taking too many risks, reaching 78/1 after six overs. The hosts brought up their 100 runs in the ninth over with Markram hitting a massive six off the bowling of Jadeja in the ninth over.
Head, the Impact Sub for Thangarasu Natarajan, was out in the 10th over off Maheesh Theekshana but not before his 60-run stand with Markram had put SRH on course.
Markram made his first fifty of the season in the 14th over as CSK bowlers toiled to get the wickets. But the South African batter who captained SRH last season got out in the same over bowled by Moeen Ali (2/23) who won an LBW review taken by SRH.
The Hyderabad-based side did not need to press panic button as they needed just 34 runs from the last five overs. Moeen got his second wicket in the form of Shahbaz Ahmed (18) but Heinrich Klaasen (10 not out) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (14 not out) took SRH home.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings batters failed to capitalise on their starts as they were restricted to a below-par 165/5.
In-form Shivam Dube top-scored with a 24-ball 45 while veteran Ajinkya Rahane contributed a sedate 35 off 30 balls after CSK were asked to bat on a pitch that didn't seem like a proverbial belter. The duo's 65-run partnership for the third wicket from just 6.3 overs was the only highlight of the CSK innings.
CSK could manage only 37 runs in the last five overs which could prove to be a crucial factor in the contest.
But credit must be given to CSK's all-season's man Ravindra Jadeja, whose unbeaten 31 off 23 balls was the added fillip that the defending champions needed at the end.
Walking in to bat in the final over, CSK legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni made from two balls.
For SRH, it was a collective bowling effort with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pat Cummins, Thangarasu Natarajan Shahbaz Ahmed and Jaydev Unadkat taking a wicket apiece.
CSK made a decent start, reaching 25 for no loss in three overs before veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave SRH the breakthrough with his first wicket of the season in the form of Rachin Ravindra who sliced it straight to Markram in the first ball of the fourth over.
Rahane then hit SRH captain Cummins for a six in the fifth over befpre CSK took 15 runs from the sixth over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with Rahane and his captain Ruturaj Gaikwad hitting a four and a six respectively.
CSK were well-placed at 48/1 at the end of the Powerplay but the introduction of spin in the form of Shahbaz Ahmed did the trick as Gaikwad was dismissed for 26 off 21 balls, with Abdul Samad taking a simple catch at long-on.
Rahane did score useful runs but never really looked fluent in his strokeplay as SRH's pacers mixed their pace cleverly to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs.
Dube was the primary scorer during the 65-run partnership for the third wicket with Rahane from just 6.3 overs. Dube, who has already scored a fifty this season, was quite aggressive as he hit two fours and four towering sixes during his 24-ball innings.
He was finally deceived by the change of pace from SRH captain Pat Cummins and was caught at point in the 14th over. Rahane was out in the next over to Unadkat as the two quick wickets derailed CSK's innings and they struggled to get the boundaries in the last few overs.