Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad was at his ferocious best in the game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) as he played a 99-run knock to his team to reach a daunting total of 202/2 in 20 overs. The right-handed batter playing at his home stadium — MCA Stadium, Pune, displayed great footwork and hand-eye coordination to get the better of the SRH pace attack.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was looking set for a hundred but he perished just one-run short in the 18th over of the innings. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri praised Gaikwad for his knock against SRH and he said that the batter plays express pace as most do against medium pace. In his tweet, Ravi Shastri wrote: “So much to like about RG. Plays express pace like most do against medium pace. He will get there in time. No Doubts. Classy stuff tonite @Ruutu1331.”
So much to like about RG. Plays express pace like most do against medium pace. He will get there in time. No Doubts. Classy stuff tonite @Ruutu1331 @ChennaiIPL @IPL #SRHvsCSK #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/M4EQR9vEg6
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) May 1, 2022
Ruturaj Gaikwad did not break a sweat while tackling the pace of Umran Malik and he used the pacer and kept on maneuvering the ball wherever he liked. The lofted six he hit off Umran over mid-off was a sight to behold. The batter along with Devon Conway built a brilliant opening partnership of 182 runs.
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Chasing a target of more than 200 runs was never going to be easy for the Sunrisers but CSK needed early wickets to restrict them. After overcoming a dropped catch, left-arm seamer, Mukesh Choudhary provided the breakthrough, not one but he scalped a couple of wickets on back-to-back deliveries to peg SRH back.
Mukesh Choudhary managed to get the wicket of Abhishek Sharma after the left-hander had got off to a flying start and then got rid of dangerous Rahul Tripathi on the very next delivery. The spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner managed to tighten the screws in the middle and the run rate crept up slowly and gradually.
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After bowling just a couple of overs in the powerplay, Mukesh Choudhary returned to bowl his third in the 18th over of the innings and took a couple of more wickets as he managed to dismiss Shashank Singh and Washington Sundar in a span of three balls to take the match beyond SRH’s control. All-rounder Dwaine Pretorius conceded 12 runs in the penultimate over for Choudhary to have breathing space of defending more than 38 runs in the final over.
