Hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) received a thrilling 4-run defeat against the visiting team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Uppal, Hyderabad) on Sunday afternoon.
SRH skipper Kane Williamson elected to field first after winning the toss. CSK scored 182/3 in 20 overs which SRH failed to chase down as they were able to score 178/6 at the end of 20 overs.
Now, we will briefly talk about some important reasons for SRH’s defeat in this match.
Failed to take advantage after a good start
While SRH got a good start as CSK scored just 27/1 in 6 overs and later they were 32/2 in 7.1 overs, the hosts’ bowlers failed to take further advantage in that innings. Soon, the third-wicket partnership between Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu helped CSK to make a comeback in this game.
Rayudu played a blistering knock of 79 runs off just 37 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. On the other hand, Raina was not out on 54 runs off 43 balls. These two strongly brought back the visiting team into the game.
Dhoni’s blistering finishing
While Raina-Rayudu’s thrashing third-wicket partnership for 112 runs settled the innings, MS Dhoni’s fast cameo knock of unbeaten 25 runs off just 12 balls proved crucial for the match as it had a thrilling last-ball finish. In that knock, CSK captain hit 3 fours and one sixer with the superb 208.33 strike-rate.
Top order failures
Most of SRH top-orders failed against Deepak Chahar’s opening spell. The CSK right-arm pacer grabbed first three wickets as his bowling figure was 4-1-15-3. While SRH went down 22/3 in 4.2 overs, opener Ricky Bhui and no.3 batsman Manish Pandey were dismissed for the duck while no.4 batsman Deepak Hooda scored only 1 run. Apart from another opener and skipper Kane Williamson, none of the top-order batsmen even provided fight against the CSK bowlers.
Chasing a good target like 183 runs in 20 overs, that initial batting collapse was the huge blow for the host side.
Umpires denied a vital above waist-height no-ball
While it was the close match as SRH lost the game in the final ball by 4 runs, that no-ball denial by the umpires became costly. It was the 16.2 overs when CSK pacer Shardul Thakur delivered the above waist-height full toss to SRH skipper Kane Williamson. But the on-field umpires believed that full toss delivery was not above the waist-height so, they denied to calling a no-ball even SRH cricketers were demanding. It could be a game-changing point if umpires gave the right no-ball decision in that delivery as SRH could use the free-hit.
Both Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan failed to be present in the last moment
SRH skipper Kane Williamson and no.6 batsman Yusuf Pathan batted superbly as their performances changed the game. While Williamson played a responsible knock of 84 runs off 51 balls (5 fours and 5 sixes), Yusuf Pathan played a superb 45 runs knock off just 27 balls (1 four and 4 sixes).
However, both the set batsmen failed to be present in the final moment of the game as Williamson was dismissed in 17.6 overs and Pathan was dismissed in 18.4 overs.
Despite, Rashid Khan’s superb batting performance in the last moment as he was unbeaten on 17 runs off just 4 balls, SRH felt the absence of a set batsman in the deciding over.
