Chennai Super Kings survived a late assault from Sunrisers Hyderabad to seal a thrilling four-run win in an IPL match on Sunday. Chasing a target of 183, SRH managed 178/6 in their allotted 20 overs as CSK climbed to the top of the points tally.
The SRH came close to winning the match, thanks largely to their captain Kane Williamson who scored a valiant 84 off 51 balls after their chase was jolted by three early blows. Deepak Chahar dismissed opener Ricky Bhui and Manish Pandey for a duck in successive overs and then added the scalp of Deepak Hooda (1) in his third to leave the orange army in trouble at 22/3 in 4.2 overs.
Williamson then first combined with Shakib Al Hasan (24) to revive the innings before adding 79 runs with Yusuf Pathan (45) to bring them back in the game. When he fell to Dwayne Bravo off the final delivery of the 18th over, SRH needed 33 off the final two overs.
However, the fall of Yusuf in the following overall but ended the hopes of the home fans before Rashid Khan gave CSK a mighty scare. With 19 needed off the final over, Rashid struck a six and a four to leave his team needing six from the last delivery. However, he managed a single off it to remain unbeaten on 17 as CSK took home two points.
Earlier, it was Kane Williamson who won the toss and opted to chase the total. Justifying the toss, SRH bowlers started the innings in a grand way by giving only 40-odd runs in the first 8 overs and scalped both opening batsman wickets. However, Ambati Rayudu who has played enough cricket on Hyderabad soil completely changed the complexion of the game by smacking a blistering 79 runs off 37 balls.
Suresh Raina, quite unlike to him, played an anchor role in the innings by knocking the ball down the ground for singles and occasional boundaries. Raina scored an unbeaten 54 off 43 balls. In the end, it was MS Dhoni who smacked a brilliant 25 runs off 12 balls to shoulder his side to a massive total of 182 runs on the board.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to CSK’s close win over SRH:
MS Gony, Mohit Sharma and now Deepak Chahar , @ChennaiIPL continue producing lesser known Indian seamers who make a name for themselves and make a big impact. Kudos to the scouting team #SRHvCSK
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 22, 2018
CSK CSK CSK!!! Raised everyone's BP as usual before clinching in a roaring victory. Pumped up. Couldn't have asked for a better Sunday. Well done champs. Loud whistle! #SRHvCSK #CSK #Yellove #ChennaiSuperKings #WhistlePodu
— Parvati (@paro_nair) April 22, 2018
What a knock from #Kanewillamson ,a complete package, arguably the most complete batsman of the modern era, and that.. across formats 👍🏼🏏☝🏻#SRHvsCSK #IPL2018
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) April 22, 2018
Such a exciting game this one. Great effort by @SunRisers to fight till the end. @ChennaiIPL continue their dominant run and move to the top of the table! #SRHvCSK #IPL2018 #WhistlePodu
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 22, 2018
What a super super game! Big applause to both teams 👏👏👏 #SRHvCSK
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) April 22, 2018
It was a great game of cricket between #CSKvSRH in the end it was CSK who got the cake. But for fans this IPL 2018 has been a great treat n close finishes #ipl
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 22, 2018
Another Nail Biting finish in the IPL. #CSK lucky to be on the winning side with the kind of deliveries they bowled in the final overs. Also goes on to show how catches can win you matches. Williamson was looking dangerous out there in the middle. #SRHvCSK
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 22, 2018
Close call for CSK, but SRH not shamed by defeat. Doughty run chase. Terrific match!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 22, 2018
Masters of the heartbeat. #CSK close another thriller!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 22, 2018
Didn’t expect that to go down to the wire! Valiant effort from the @SunRisers captain but in the end @RayuduAmbati and @ChennaiIPL just too good! #whatamatch #VivoIPL18 @StarSportsIndia
— Erin Holland (@erinvholland) April 22, 2018
#SRH lose by 4 runs. At least 2 no-balls were NOT called in the death overs. That's why we need to apply common sense and use the technology to get the right decisions.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) April 22, 2018
Looking At Their Age During #IPLAuction Haters Made Fun Of Them Calling #CSK As Old Age Home. Today They've Shown Again Who's The Daddy. Chennai Super Kings Tops The Table Like A BOSS. #WhistlePodu 💪🙏 #SRHvCSK #SRHvsCSK #IPL2018 #Dhoni #Rayudu pic.twitter.com/qMUFxWGNZQ
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) April 22, 2018
I’ve never seen Rayudu bat like this before…it’s the franchise…the culture..CSK..more than a team! @ChennaiIPL #SRHvCSK
— Frankenstein (@FrankensteinFW) April 22, 2018
For a change, 3 minutes for lot of them out here who were expecting SRH to cross the line and wanted CSK to lose. #SRHvCSK #WhistlePodu @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/jDm7b5Tu5W
— Prabhu (@Cricprabhu) April 22, 2018
A close one but we got it! Great innings by @RayuduAmbati and Kane Williamson 🏏🏏! The Yellow Army marches on! 💛💛 #CSKvsSRH #WhistlePodu
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 22, 2018
4 of CSK's 5 matches have gone to the last over. #SRHvCSK
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) April 22, 2018
Brilliant victory for @ChennaiIPL ….on a roll. @SunRisers will feel that above waist high full toss cost them the match. #smallmargins
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) April 22, 2018
A harsh decision by the umpire which eventually cost SRH the match. #IPL2018 #SRHvCSK #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/it5bBbwQ2S
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) April 22, 2018
In the end the difference between winning and losing was Karn Sharma's fielding effort. He saved 5 runs and @ChennaiIPL won by 4 runs!#SRHvCSK
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 22, 2018
4 runs that could have been made off a free hit had it been called, these decisions can be crucial in a game why are we not taking the time to make sure the right call is made?
— Andrew Tye (@aj191) April 22, 2018
Can't understand why the third umpire can't intervene and call that a no ball. When you've the technology why don't you use it to eliminate howlers #SRHvCSK #IPL2018
— Arun Venugopal (@scarletrun) April 22, 2018
Super Kings take the match away. Meanwhile! SRH have all our hearts. Came back into the game when it looked impossible!
What a fabulous performance by #Williamson #YusufPathan and #RashidKhan
Massive respect for #orangearmy 🙏🙏👏👏 #SRHvCSK #IPL2018 #Yellove#WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/02NxWgXnsb— Utkarsh Pandey (@utkarsh_u2) April 22, 2018
