The Chennai track has been SunRisers' nemesis so far this season, and David Warner has been a tad unlucky at the toss.
Batting second hasn't been the easiest of tasks at the Chepauk and to compound SunRisers' problems is that brittle middle-order.
So when Mumbai Indians set SRH 151 for victory, Openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow knew they had to stay long and bat quick if they had to get over the line.
The duo took their time as Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah kept it tight in the first two overs before Bairstow tore into Boult, taking him for 18 runs in the 3rd over.
That over onwards, Bairstow took the lead and went after the bowling while Warner attacked whenever the opportunity arose. They were slow to take off, but by the end of the Powerplay overs W&B reached a healthy 57-0 in 6 overs.
Clearly cruising at over 9 runs an over and both openers well settled, it looked like SRH were finally set to log their first points of the season.
Alas! That was not to be as Krunal Pandya was brought back into the attack in the 8th over and got a lucky breakthrough.
Krunal cramped Bairstow for room as the batsman tried to go deep in his crease for the slog sweep, but all he did was hit the stumps with his back foot while attempting the shot.
Bairstow out hit wicket for 43, and that opened the floodgates.
Leggie Rahul Chahar took out Manish Pandey off the very next over. Warner then rallied a little taking Chahar for 11 runs a couple of overs later. But an over later, the captain's knock ended after a brilliant throw by Hardik Pandya from point ran him out for 36. SRH 90/3.
SRH's inexperienced middle-order could not take the pressure and even though Vijay Shankar hit a few big shots late in the innings, the batsmen just didn't have the skill or the inclination to fight on, falling short of 13 runs eventually.
Had Bairstow stayed longer and scored at the rate he was going alongside Warner, SunRisers would have breached Mumbai's total comfortably.
