The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost two matches in a row in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, MS Dhoni and his men made a fabulous comeback with a six-wicket win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With the triumph, CSK also became the first team to qualify for the playoffs with the help of a phenomenal knock from Shane Watson. SRH remained in the fourth position.
During the toss, the SRH toss, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that they have made two changes in their squad as Manish Pandey and Shakib Al Hasan replaced Kane Williamson and Shahbaz Nadeem in the squad. However, CSK made just one change as Shardul Thakur made way for the veteran Harbhajan Singh.
WATCH – Tired David Warner Messes With MS Dhoni’s Fast Hands
Harbhajan Singh’s inclusion paid rich dividends for CSK as he picked the first two wickets for them. Firstly, he dismissed Bairstow in the 2nd over followed by the wicket of David Warner in the 14th over. After the early dismissal of Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Warner started slogging the CSK bowlers all over the park. They amassed as many as 54 runs in the powerplay and surprisingly, Manish was scoring at the higher strike-rate.
WATCH – Manish Pandey Gives A Huge Scare To Deepak Chahar
Pandey and Warner added 111 runs for the second wicket before the latter getting out in the 14th over as he was looking tired as well due to the intense humidity of Chennai. However, despite some later fireworks of Pandey (49-ball 83) and Vijay Shankar, SRH only managed to reach the total of 175/3 in their quota of 20 overs as Shankar played a bit slow as per the expectations.
During the chase, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis started cautiously as they scored the first run on the 11th ball of the innings. However, in the next over, the latter got run-out owing to a brilliant throw from Deepak Hooda. After his dismissal, Suresh Raina came out to bat and he started smashing the SRH bowlers. His real carnage came in the final over of powerplay when he smashed Sandeep Sharma for 22 runs with help of 4 fours and a six.
WATCH – Things Got Heated Between Rashid Khan And Shane Watson
Raina was dismissed by Rashid Khan’s brilliant googly in the 10th over. After his dismissal, Watson kept on smashing the SRH bowlers as he amassed as many as 96 runs from 53 balls before getting out in the 18th over of Bhuvneshwar Kumar owing to a brilliant catch from Bairstow.
WATCH – Jonny Bairstow Took A Brilliant Catch To Dismiss Shane Watson In 90s
After Watson’s dismissal, CSK needed 9 runs in the final over and Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav were batting at the crease and the latter smashed the six on the second ball and the hosts went past the line with a ball to spare and 6 wickets in hand despite Rayudu getting out in the final over.
Brief Score:
Chennai Super Kings – 176/4 in 19.5 overs (S Watson: 96, S Raina: 38; B Kumar: 1/18) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad – 175/3 in 20 overs (M Pandey: 83*, D Warner: 57; H Singh: 2/39) by 6 wickets and a ball to spare
Here is how Twitter reacted to CSK’s win:
Last five overs in the first innings are key. RR yesterday and SRH today – Missed the final flourish and ended up a few runs short. CSK back on track #CSKvSRH
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 23, 2019
CSK in the IPL:
Seasons played: 10
No of playoff qualifications: 10— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) April 23, 2019
Back to where we belong. Top of the Table. #CSK #Yellove
— Prabhu (@Cricprabhu) April 23, 2019
@ChennaiIPL back on track. Good to see Shane Watson in beast mode tonight. That was vintage.
— ian bishop (@irbishi) April 23, 2019
CSK become the first team to qualify for playoffs in this season of IPL.#CSKvSRH
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 23, 2019
Met him before the game.. Maybe he needed my good wishes and tips to get going this year.. Haha #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/6rgBy8LWjd
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 23, 2019
What-a-Day! Watto-Day! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvSRH 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/kgMM01SzZW
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 23, 2019
#SRH left with one over of Rashid and Bhuvi in the last 5 overs. And an over from Sandeep. Kane-the captain is definitely missed. #KKRvSRH #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 23, 2019
What a provocative knock, Shane Watson.
When the end came, he made the catcher look good, umpire look foolish and himself look cowboy.#CSKvSRH
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) April 23, 2019
@ImRaina and whatoo peaking @ the right time at Chepauk! Brilliant shift in momentum through some amazing strokes played by these two! Yellow brigade in the driving seat. #IPL2019 #CSKvSRH
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 23, 2019
Never sledge an Australian🤣 #CSKvSRH #ShaneWatson pic.twitter.com/tQ4NH0pcls
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) April 23, 2019
Dismissed in 90s for CSK in IPL:
98 – Suresh Raina v RR, Centurion, 2009
93 – Matthew Hayden v Delhi, Delhi, 2010
95 – Murali Vijay v RCB, Chennai, 2011
95 – Michael Hussey v KKR,Chennai, 2013
96 – Shane Watson v SRH, Chennai, 2019*#CSKvSRH— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 23, 2019
22nd Apr 2013:
Shane Watson scored an IPL century at Chennai.23rd April 2019:
Shane Watson almost scored an IPL century for Chennai.— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 23, 2019