Chennai Super Kings are looking like a team to beat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. After winning 4 consecutive games in Mumbai, CSK registered a comfortable win by 7 wickets in Delhi against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) owing to the brilliant half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis. CSK has now extended its winning streak to 5 matches. With the dominant win, CSK has again regained the top of the IPL 2021 points table, surprising Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
CSK registered a win with a dominating opening partnership of Ruturaj Gaikwad (44-ball 75) and Faf du Plessis (38-ball 56) as they chased down the target of 172 runs with relative ease. The duo started toying with the SRH bowlers with their wide range of strokes added 129 runs for the first wicket in just 13 overs to put the chase to bed. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was backed by the CSK management despite a string of low scores at the start of the tournament, smashed his 5th IPL fifty.
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Ruturaj attacked the pacers and spinners without any kind of discrimination. He did not bulldoze the bowling attack as he managed to find gaps consistently and kept timing them perfectly to frustrate the SRH bowlers. The youngster started his knock slowly, allowing du Plessis to take charge but the young opener grew in confidence to take Chennai closer to the finish line.
Gaikwad was looking good to score his maiden IPL ton, but he was undone by a Rashid Khan ripper. The Afghanistan leg-spinner managed to scalp 3 wickets but it was taken late by then as he didn’t get any support from the rest of the Sunrisers bowlers. Faf also smashed his 3rd successive fifty as Chennai is proving to be a well-oiled machine in IPL 2021.
CSK suffered the loss of du Plessis and Moeen Ali on back-to-back deliveries of Rashid Khan, by that time, there was nothing much left to do for Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina who got the 3-time champions past the finish line with 15 balls to spare. Earlier in the day, CSK pulled pull off a brilliant fielding effort as they saved crucial runs despite starting the innings with a dropped catch.
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Jonny Bairstow failed to make full use of the reprieve as he was dismissed by Sam Curran for 7 in the powerplay. David Warner, who won the toss and surprisingly opted to bat on a dewy evening in Delhi, struggled to get going with the bat. Warner (55-ball 57) and Manish Pandey (46-ball 61) then added 106 runs for the second wicket, but it was the late blitz from Kane Williamson and Kedar Jadhav that helped SRH to reach the tally of 171/3 in their quota of 20 overs.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to CSK’s comprehensive win:
All Over: In the first game of #IPL2021 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, @ChennaiIPL emerge victorious by 7 wickets as they outplay #SRH in all three departments of the game. https://t.co/dvbR7X1Kzc #VIVOIPL #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/JVa1vxhUg8
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 28, 2021
@ChennaiIPL @msdhoni ❤️❤️❤️🙌💥💥
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) April 28, 2021
If #CSK turnaround is stunning this season so is the dramatic downfall of #SRH . Another ordinary game for Hyderabad and they already are looking for the next season. #CSKvsSRH
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 28, 2021
And a lot to like about #RuturajGaikwad 👏 #ipl2021 @ChennaiIPL
— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) April 28, 2021
Ruturaj Gaikwad getting better with every innings #VIVOIPL #CSKvSRH Such a wonderful timer of the ball
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) April 28, 2021
Ruturaj is all class!
What wonderful batting. The way he has played spin is amazing— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 28, 2021
Faf du Plessis IPL run tally by year:
2012 – 398
2014 – 303
2015 – 380
2016 – 206
2017 – 8
2018 – 162
2019 – 396
2020 – 449
2021 – 266*After his best ever IPL last year, Faf looks well on course to pass last years tally. #IPL2021 #CSKvSRH
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 28, 2021
The man 😎😎@rashidkhan_19 #CSKvsSRH
— Ridhima Pathak 😷 (@PathakRidhima) April 28, 2021
Warner bhau, hard hit nahi…ball ko time karo!
He's been looking to hit it hard more than timing it.#CSKvSRH
— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) April 28, 2021
CSK treating a champion bowler with ease. Lost three (2 in the end) wkts in the process, but scoring 36 of 4 of Rashid is 💛. #WhistlePodu #CSK #Yellove
— Prabhu (@Cricprabhu) April 28, 2021
Amidst all the carnage from Faf and Rutiraj @rashidkhan_19 stands tall. @SunRisers
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 28, 2021
Well played #RuturajGaikwad youngster taking the lead and scoring those crucial runs for @ChennaiIPL #CSKvsSRH #IPL2021
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) April 28, 2021
Moeen Ali in #IPL2021:
36(24) – Strike Rate 150
46(31) – Strike Rate 148.39
26(20) – Strike Rate 130
25(12) – Strike Rate 208.33
15(8) – Strike Rate 187.50— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 28, 2021
Faf Du Plessis is now the orange cap holder of IPL 2021.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 28, 2021
