MUMBAI: Riding on Abhishek Sharma’s breezy half century, Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down 155 in 17.4 overs to seal an eight-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in match 17 of the Indian Premier League 2022. This is Hyderabad’s first win, out of three matches, in the tournament.
After being asked to bat first, Hyderabad lost Robin Uthappa in the fourth over as he tried to loft off-spinner Washington Sundar over mid-on but got a top edge and was caught. Tuturaj Gaikwad played a cracking drive and a cut before he was cleaned up by an inswinging yorker by T Natarajan.
Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu steadied the innings by adding 62 runs for the third wicket. Rayudu was uncharacteristically sedate, while Ali was fabulously fluent. Both of them used the pace of Umran Malik and collected runs freely against him. Ali hooked him for a six over long-leg and also steered him masterfully through point for a boundary.
Rayudu also reeled off a beautiful inside-out shot and a drive before he was caught at long-on off Sundar in the 14th over. Ali smote a six off Aiden Markram in the next over but was caught at deep square-leg while attempting the same shot.
MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube fell cheaply but the captain Ravindra Jadeja played a breezy cameo to steer Chennai to 154-7. Natarajan and Sundar were the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad as they both grabbed two scalps each.
Chasing 155, Hyderabad openers Abhishek and captain Kane Williamson lent a solid start to the team as they put together a 89-run partnership for the first wicket. Williamson focused on pinching singles and doubles, and let Abhishek go after the bowlers. The left-handed Abhishek was in imperious touch as he played terrific inside-out shots and pull against spinners Maheesh Theekshana and R Jadeja.
Abhishek reached his fifty in the 12th over as he steered Chris Jordan to this-man for a single. In the next over, Williamson was caught at cover for 32 but that didn’t impede Hyderabad’s charge.
Rahul Tripathi, the next batsman, went hammer and tongs from the word go and unleashed an array of ingenious shots. Abishek was dismissed for 75 when Hyderabad were just 10 runs away from the win.
Tripathi remained unbeaten on 39 off just 15 balls to hand Chennai their fourth consecutive defeat in the tournament. Abhishek was adjudged Man of the Match.
“It was a pressure game for the whole team and me as well as we didn’t do well in the first two games. I am pretty much lucky to have a team like SRH because they’ve been very supportive through this journey. I was just waiting for an innings like this. It’s a good start for me and I look forward to scoring more innings like this,” said Abhishek after the match.
“We didn’t get what we were looking for. We fell 20-25 runs short. Our bowlers were looking to bowl in good areas early on and trying to take wickets. We will look to improve in both departments. We’re all professional cricketers, need to work hard on our game, stick together and try to come back,” Chennai’s captain Jadeja stated.