Chennai: Ravindra Jadeja’s three-wicket haul was complemented by a magnificent unbeaten fifty from opener Devon Conway as Chennai Super Kings cantered to a comfortable seven-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a low-scoring IPL match on Friday.
Jadeja (3/22) spun a web of spin with a three-wicket haul to restrict SRH to a below-par 134 for 7 and Conway then slammed a 57-ball 77 not out as CSK made light of the target, reaching 138 for 3 in 18.4 overs for a fourth straight win over SRH at Chepauk. The stylish left-handed batter hit 12 fours and one six during his sensational knock and shared an 87-run stand with opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad (35) to provide a rollicking start to the chase.
Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad notched up 50 in the 6th over. Conway waded into the tall pacer Marco Jansen, smacking a six and four boundaries as CSK appeared to hurtle towards the target. The New Zealand batter reached his 50 from 33 balls to power CSK’s chase, overshadowing the talented Gaikwad in the process. The opening duo appeared set to see the team home when misfortune struck Gaikwad, who was run-out after a shot by Conway got deflected off Umran Malik’s hand and hit the stumps with the CSK batter out of his crease. Leg-spinner Mayank Markande was the best performer with the ball for SRH on a rather forgettable day, finishing with 2 for 23 (4 overs). He got the wickets of Ajinka Rahane (9) and Ambati Rayudu (9), bowling the latter with a googly. In the end, Moeen Ali (6) hit the winning runs of Washington Sundar.
Earlier, it was trial by spin for the Sunrisers Hyderabad batters as the Chennai Super Kings slow bowlers, especially Jadeja, came up with a superb performance to restrict the visiting team to a modest 134 for 7. Jadeja was the best bowler for CSK with 3 for 22, while Abhishek Sharma (34) was the top scorer for the Sunrisers, who just couldn’t get going after being sent in to bat by skipper M S Dhoni. SRH batters faltered despite a 35-run partnership for the opening wicket between Harry Brook (18) and Sharma and a 36-run stand for the second wicket between Sharma and Rahul Tripathi (21) as the CSK spinners took over.
There was no significant partnership in the middle order as the Hyderabad batters failed to push the score, struggling against the CSK spinners. Jadeja was the key bowler for the Super Kings as he spun a web around the opposition batters. The experienced Jadeja (3/22) and Maheesh Theekshana (1/27) strangled the SRH batting unit after Dhoni made the spinners bowl in tandem from over 7 to 15. Jadeja, as always, got through his 4 overs quickly and put the brakes on the SRH scoring. He picked up the wickets of Sharma, Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal (2). Such was the dominance of the spinners that after 10.3 overs, SRH batters couldn’t get any boundary for the next 36 balls.
Brook appeared to find his groove and hit Tushar Deshpande for two consecutive boundaries before he fell to a good catch by Ruturaj Gaikwad off Akash Singh. Sharma, who hit the first six of the match in the third over off Singh, hit three fours and a sixer before becoming Jadeja’s first victim. The left-handed batter fell to a good catch by Ajinkya Rahane in the deep as Jadeja got into the act. Agarwal, who was bumped down the order to No.6 did not last too long. After surviving a caught and bowled chance to Jadeja, who could not hold on to a chance as Klaasen got in the way, Agarwal jumped out of the crease only to miss the ball as Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps.
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