The Chennai Super Kings reclaimed their fortress -- the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai -- as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 7 wickets on Friday, April 21, 2023.
The Super Kings entered the match on the back of a high-scoring win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in an away game. But the last time the Super Kings played at home was against the Rajasthan Royals and in a rare outcome, Chennai lost at home. The den was breached!
But Friday's contest saw the Super Kings achieve a comfortable win. In front of a sea of yellow, with not a single orange jersey spotted in the stands, Chennai dominated the proceedings in both innings.
The four-time champions, who had won four out of their last five contests over Sunrisers, continued to dominate the Hyderabad franchise.
The Super Kings seem to be getting into the groove as they notched their fourth win from six games. And the former champs saw two familiar top performers. Devon Conway and Ravindra Jadeja, who have been consistently performing this season, sizzled once again as Sunrisers fell to their fourth loss of IPL 2023.
Ravindra Jadeja
After inviting Sunrisers to bat, the Chennai bowlers restricted the visitors to a paltry 134/7.
Chennai's spinners have been lethal in the middle phases this IPL. And Jadeja continued to lead the attack with the ball.
After young left-arm pacer Akash Singh picked up the only wicket in the Powerplay -- the amazing Harry Brook -- SRH posted a modest 45 for 1 at the end of the first six overs.
With nine wickets in hand, Sunrisers set themselves up for a big total. But Jadeja, who has done this all too many times for CSK this IPL edition, handed the hosts the breakthrough with Abhishek Sharma's wicket.
Sharma, cruising at 34 off 26, threatened to break free before Jadeja struck in the tenth over. The SRH opener was picked up by Ajinkya Rahane as Jadeja triggered SRH's collapse.
Jadeja went on to pick up the important wickets of Mayank Agarwal (2) thanks to a brilliant stumping by the age-defying M S Dhoni, and then Rahul Tripathi (21).
Apart from Jadeja's scintillating 3/22, Maheesh Theekshana (1/27), Akash Singh (1/17) and Matheesha Pathirana (1/22) were the other wicket-takers as the bowlers put Chennai in control after the first innings.
Devon Conway
The South African-born New Zealand cricketer has been enjoying a stellar show this IPL and on Friday he played another knock to guide Chennai to a comfortable win.
Though Chennai would have been happier to have won faster, Conway's unbeaten half-century saw the hosts chase down the target with eight balls remaining.
After the Kiwi dazzled with a 45-ball 83 in CSK's previous game over RCB, Conway once again top scored with an unbeaten 57-ball 77.
Conway's knock, which was peppered with 12 boundaries and a six, kept Chennai on course from the first over.
With Jadeja and Conway leading the bowling and batting attack, CSK look like they have found their winning combination this season.
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