In the Qualifier 1 of IPL 2018, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) snatched a remarkable thrilling 2-wicket victory (with 5 balls to remaining) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) on Tuesday night. While SRH was restricted for 139/7 (20 overs), CSK chased down that target in 19.1 overs after losing 8 wickets.
CSK captain MS Dhoni decided to bowl first after winning the toss. SRH lost their opener Shikhar Dhawan (0) on the very first ball of the game. Their batsmen struggled against the CSK bowlers as their wickets were falling regularly. Once SRH went down to 88/6 where the skipper Kane Williamson (24 runs) and Yusuf Pathan (24 runs) were the only batsmen to reach the 20-runs mark.
At the late of that innings, Carlos Brathwaite played a crucial knock of unbeaten 43 runs off just 29 balls (one four and 4 sixes) which helped the team to put a respectable total on the board. Bhuvneshwar Kumar held the other side to make sure that they didn’t lose other wickets. Before Bhuvneshwar (7 runs off 11 balls) lost his wicket in the very last ball of that innings, he put an important 51-run partnership with Brathwaite for the seventh wicket.
In the end, SRH managed to score 139/7 in 20 overs.
Among the CSK bowlers, Dwayne Bravo (2/25) got two wickets while Deepak Chahar (1/31), Lungi Ngidi (1/20), Shardul Thakur (1/50) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/13) picked up one wicket each.
Chasing down that target, CSK suffered a huge batting collapse. Apart from Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina, no other batsmen crossed the 20-run mark. While Faf played a very responsible knock, Raina played a fast 22-run knock off 13 balls. But since Raina’s dismissal, CSK faced a huge batting collapse.
Once, CSK was struggling at 62/6. Since then, the lower order batsmen provided some important supports to Faf who held his nerve till the end and snatched a remarkable victory with his unbeaten 67 runs knock off 42 balls (5 fours and 4 sixes). Deepak Chahar (10 runs off 6 balls) and Shardul Thakur (15* runs off 5 balls) also provided some crucial help for Faf.
Finally, CSK chased down the target in 19.1 overs after losing 8 wickets.
Among the SRH bowlers, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul and Rashid Khan claimed two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up one wicket.
Here are some important Twitter reactions:
From the headquarters of the film industry, come the finest scripts!! #Chennai. #CSK
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 22, 2018
What an innings from @faf1307 , on a surface where everyone struggled , an exceptional innings. @ChennaiIPL is truly a champion. Romba nalla victory #SRHvCSK
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 22, 2018
MS Dhoni in #IPL finals for the 8th time – the most by any player!
2008 – CSK
2010 – CSK
2011 – CSK
2012 – CSK
2013 – CSK
2015 – CSK
2017 – RPS
2018 – CSK#SRHvCSK#IPL2018 #WhistlePodu— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 22, 2018
SRH can still be in final, but must travel to Kolkata & await result of KKR-RR match. Meanwhile CSK can chill in Mumbai & savour this win!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 22, 2018
Carlos Braithwait bowling the 18th over. Kaul bowling the 19th ahead of Bhuvneshwar. Rare captaincy errors from one of the finest captains in the #IPL #SRHvCSK
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 22, 2018
Incredible, unbelievable! CSK return from the dead thanks to brilliant knock from du Plessis. Stunning game full of twists & turns
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 22, 2018
Faf!! You champion! Simply Faftastic @faf1307 !! 🙏#Whistlepodu #SRHvCSK
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwirnavi99) May 22, 2018
#IPL—A tournament where seven teams play to meet #CSK in the finals. 😊🙏🙌🙇♂️ #SRHvCSK
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 22, 2018
Rashid Khan's googly gets Dhoni and this match has turned upside down!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 22, 2018
If giving heart attack is an art, team CSK is the picasso of it! 😐 #SRHvCSK
— Rohitian 👑 #MI💙 (@abhi_iyer45) May 22, 2018
Ah, CSK.
They always manage somehow.
No worries, SRH.
You'll get another shot in the Final.#SRHvCSK— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) May 22, 2018
Rashid Khan :
Virat Kohli ✔
AB de Villiers ✔
MS Dhoni ✔No one picked his googly. What a bowler!#SRHvCSK
— Jaanvi 🏏 (@ThatCricketBuff) May 22, 2018
Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Williamson, after he gave 18th over to Braithwaite. #SRHvCSK pic.twitter.com/b3IhIhwQpC
— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) May 22, 2018
SRH vs CSK + Umpires. #SRHvCSK
— Swapnil Suryawanshi (@swapnil_bs) May 22, 2018
Thank you Umpire for everything #SRHvCSK pic.twitter.com/gKH3dfe2Sm
— BOBBEY (@iamsrktheking) May 22, 2018
When it comes to winning blinders , No team can come close to CSK. What a FAB inning by FAF, Congratulations cskians, see you in the finals #SRHvCSK
— Sumit kadel (@SumitkadeI) May 22, 2018
