IPL 2018, SRH v CSK, as it happened: Rayudu, Bravo star in Super Kings’ thrilling win

Wrapping it up

The Super Kings have topped the table with that narrow four-run win. This match ebbed and flowed from the start. Looked like they were heading towards a sub-150 finish after making just 27 in the Powerplay and 54 in the first 10 overs. But Rayudu and Raina revived the innings with a century stand before Dhoni boosted the total past 180 with a sizzling cameo. Then, Chahar strangulated Sunrisers with three quick wickets. And, when Williamson tried to almost single-handedly get the win for SRH, Bravo removed him and kept his calm in the last over to clinch the win. Unlike CSK’s other wins, this was due to a team effort than an individual brilliance.

Dhoni is smiling after winning another close encounter. The excerpts from his interview during the presentation:-

On the discussion with Bravo in the last over: I didn’t want him to change his plans, basically. At times, even the best like Bravo, need advice. What’s important is you make mistakes and you learn. At lot of times we have these debates, but a lot of times, when you make mistakes, the bowlers understand what we were talking about.

On bigger totals: I think the wickets have become better compared to the first few years of the IPL. The batsmen are bigger and stronger. I think we need to give credit to the batsmen and the bowlers are also constantly improving. But as we progress towards the knockouts, you will see the bowlers come up with new plans, and getting the big scores won’t be so easy.

On CSK’s young pacers: What’s important is to give these guys (Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur) some time. I want them to do well. Yes, there have been errors, but they will come back strong.

On Rayudu: Rayudu has been fantastic. One of the questions was where do we play him? And I have seen him bat up the order at No. 3. Whenever he plays the big shots, he maintains shape, which is very important. He can bat at all numbers, but I’d prefer to see him opening, where he looks very dangerous.

Ambati Rayudu is the man of the match for his 37-ball 79.

Four of the Super Kings’ matches have gone to the last over now. But it’s in these stages that they do exceedingly well. They were criticised for picking a team of veterans. But whenever they were in pressure, a 30-plus cricketer has stepped up. The stars of this match for them were Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo. Chahar apart, all of them are above 30.

Rayudu and Raina revived CSK with a 112-run third wicket stand. Dhoni, then, struck a 12-ball 25 to take his team to 182. Chahar then took three early wickets to hamper the Sunrisers. When Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan threatened to take the game away from CSK, Bravo rescued CSK and bowled a brilliant last over to finish the game off!

LAST BALL. Bravo bowls a superb last ball to deny the win for Sunrisers. Heartbreak for the SRH supporters. They did well to get too close to the target. But Bravo, as he has done so many times, pulled it off for the Super Kings.

19.5 FOUR! Another boundary! Throws everything at a wide, full-length ball. Gets past the short third man. This is going to the last ball.

19.4 SIX! Short ball. Rashid heaves it over deep square leg. Unbelievable hitting this.

19.3 1 run. Full toss. Saha glances it to deep fine leg. Rashid on strike.

19.2 2 runs. Low full toss. Saha drives to extra cover. Shardul Thakur lets the ball between his legs. Pressure. Drama.

19.1 Dot ball. Wide yorker. Saha can’t do much.

Bravo to bowl the last over... 19 needed off 6.

After 19 overs, Sunrisers 164/6 (Saha 2, Rashid 6): WICKET! Yusuf’s gone. He’s out to a knuckle ball too. He hits a six off Thakur’s second delivery for a six. But Thakur deceives him in the fourth ball.

After 18 overs, Sunrisers 150/5 (Pathan 39, Saha 0): WICKET! This is a huge moment in the match. Williamson’s gone. Dwayne Bravo, at the death, has taken the most crucial wicket for his team. Looks like Williamson didn’t read Bravo’s slower ball, he miscued it. Rayudu covers a big part of the ground, runs in and puts in a dive to complete the catch. What a superb innings by Williamson though (84 off 51).

Yusuf Pathan is down! He put in a dive to save his wicket while running a two. But looks like he’s hurt his back.

After 17 overs, Sunrisers 141/4 (Williamson 84, Pathan 30): Yusuf gets another big six off Thakur’s full toss (an attempted yorker). He smashes it 91 meters in the long on direction. 10 runs off that over. The match is well withing Sunrisers’ reach.

After 16 overs, Sunrisers 131/4 (Williamson 81, Pathan 23): Yusuf Pathan joins the party. Hits two sixes off Dwayne Bravo. Chennai Super Kings are feeling the heat now. Another big over for Sunrisers, 14 runs off it. They are still in the game!

After 15 overs, Sunrisers 117/4 (Williamson 80, Pathan 10): This is terrific batting by Williamson. The rest of his team has made just 36 runs so far. But he’s taking matters into his own hands. Hits three sixes off Karn Sharma to turn it around for the Sunrisers. The hosts are still in the game, thanks to their skipper.

After 14 overs, Sunrisers 95/4 (Williamson 58, Pathan 9): What a hit by Williamson to end the over. Jadeja looks to slide one away from Williamson quickly. But the SRH skipper has read the ball too well, has loads of timing and imparts enough power on the ball to put it over the long off boundary.

After 13 overs, Sunrisers 84/4 (Williamson 51, Pathan 7):Williamson gets to his sixth IPL fifty. But he needs to be there till the end now to take his team over the line. Yusuf Pathan’s struggling to connect the ball but is looking for the big hits.

After 12 overs, Sunrisers 78/4 (Williamson 49, Pathan 3): Quiet over. Just five singles. Yusuf Pathan’s out of form too. Great opportunity for him to play a match-winning innings here. Williamson’s stil

After 11 overs, Sunrisers 73/4 (Williamson 46, Pathan 1): WICKET! Shakib Al Hasan falls after making a 19-ball 24. He tries to sweep Karn Sharma. Poor execution though. Kisses his glove and goes to Raina at short fine leg. He doesn’t miss catches like this.

After 10 overs, Sunrisers 71/3 (Williamson 45, Shakib 24): 11 runs from that Watson over. They don’t hit a boundary. But run four off the second ball, which goes to deep midwicket. Jadeja’s unable to retrieve the ball well after covering the ground well. By the time du Plessis, who backed up, threw the ball, Shakib and Williamson ran four (how many times has that happened in IPL?)

After 9 overs, Sunrisers: 60/3 (Williamson 38, Shakib 20): Spin for the first time. Jadeja concedes 9 runs though. Williamson and Shakib are getting a boundary per over. Good ploy this. No pressure game. They gotta bat at least till the 15th over. Strategic timeout now.

After 7 overs, Sunrisers: 51/3 (Williamson 31, Shakib 18): No wicket in this over for Chahar. Gave away 8 runs too. But what a spell: 4-1-15-3. Created pressure with the dot balls and reaped wickets for that. He’ll be pleased with his performance, as will be his captain. Shakib’s settling in for the Sunrisers. Important for him and Williamson to get close to the asking rate. Chennai had started slow too but their finishing was superb. But the lower middle order of SRH isn’t as strong as Chennai.

Well, well, Dhoni has decided to bowl Chahar out. He’s about to bowl his last over.

After 6 overs, Sunrisers: 40/3 (Williamson 27, Shakib 11): Good over (by Watson) this for the Sunrisers. Shakib finishes it with a six over fine leg after starting it with a four. He needs to hang around and take the pressure off Williamson.

After 5 overs, Sunrisers: 28/3 (Williamson 20, Shakib 0): WICKET! Chahar gets another one. Wow, what a spell he’s having! Hooda reacts too early to a slow ball, his attempted flick gets a leading edge that’s safely pouched by Jadeja. Williamson’s fighting alone here. He needs someone to play a supporting role. Sunrisers are in trouble.

After 4 overs, Sunrisers: 22/2 (Williamson 20, Hooda 1): Williamson’s making use of even the slightest opportunity to score. He hit two fours – both off pulls to the midwicket area. Lot of pressure on him to steer the Sunrisers to victory.

After 3 overs, Sunrisers: 11/2 (Williamson 10, Hooda 0): WICKET! Pandey perishes off the first ball. Slashes an away going delivery and gives an easy catch to third man. Superb start by Chahar. He’s hitting the right lengths. The track’s still hard and aids good bounce. He’s using it to good use.

After 2 overs, Sunrisers: 10/1 (Williamson 10, Pandey 0): Williamson hits two fours in Thakur’s over. Both balls were short and wide. Not a great start by Thakur. But Sunrisers need to keep the asking rate within reach.

Second innings starts,

Sunrisers: 0/1 in 1 over (Williamson 0, Pandey 0): A wicket-maiden start by Chahar. Bhui looked in trouble right from the first ball. Almost lost his wicket off a lofted drive in the second ball. Edged an away swinging delivery to Watson in the first slip.

The Chennai Super Kings innings was a tale of two halves.

First 10 overs: 54/2

Last 10 overs: 128/1

The innings, sort of, reiterates one of the popular conceptions of CSK: they start slow, but finish superbly well. Raina and Rayudu made took some time to settle in after the fall of Du Plessis and Watson. Rayudu then capitalised on his good start and converted into a big half-century. He’d be gutted not to convert that into a hundred though. Great innings, nevertheless. Good support by Raina, too. And, Dhoni, finished it with a good cameo.

After 20 overs, Super Kings: 182/3 (Raina 54, Dhoni 25): Superb finish by Super Kings considering they started really slow – they’d scored the lowest Powerplay total of this IPL, lost both openers early. Raina and Rayudu then put on a 112-run third-wicket stand which turned it around for CSK. And, an excellent cameo by Dhoni as well. Made a 12-ball 25. This total’s going to be really tough for the Sunrisers to chase, especially without Dhawan.

After 19 overs, Super Kings: 171/3 (Raina 51, Dhoni 16): Brilliant batting by MSD. Scores two boundaries off Sid Kaul. CSK manages 14 off the over. Raina gets to a half-century as well. Good innings by him. Anchored the innings for the Super Kings. He’s back on top of the IPL highest run-getters’ list.

After 18 overs, Super Kings: 157/3 (Raina 47, Dhoni 7): Rashid finishes his spell – another expensive one in this tournament. 4-0-49-1. Dhoni bludgeons a straight boundary off the first ball. And, Raina finishes the over with another four. 11 runs conceded off the over,

After 17 overs, Super Kings: 146/3 (Raina 42, Dhoni 1): WICKET! Oh dear, Rayudu’s run out after making a 37-ball 79. He looked good to get a century. Raina and Rayudu try to run off a misfield off the bowler Kaul. Rayudu gets stranded mid-pitch and Williamson takes the bails off.

After 16 overs, Super Kings: 137/2 (Raina 40, Rayudu 73): Looks like Rashid Khan’s having another bad day at the office. Conceded two fours and a six. CSK’s third consecutive 10-plus-run over. 17 runs off the over. Rayudu’s gone over 70.

After 15 overs, Super Kings: 120/2 (Raina 35, Rayudu 61): Rayudu’s been sensational today. Gets to his fifty in just 27 balls. Gets a boundary and a six off Shakib.

After 14 overs, Super Kings: 106/2 (Raina 33, Rayudu 49): Superb over for CSK this. 19 runs off it. Rayudu and Raina are looking to shift gears. Rayudu hits three fours and a six off Stanlake.

Also, more of the Yellow brigade amidst the Orange army:-

After 13 overs, Super Kings: 87/2 (Raina 33, Rayudu 31): Sunrisers wasted their review too. They’d appealed for a catch of Ambati Rayudu. They thought the ball kissed Rayudu’s gloves. But the replays show there was a huge gap. Next ball, he hits Shakib for a boundary through extra cover.

After 12 overs, Super Kings: 78/2 (Raina 32, Rayudu 23): Wow, Raina’s taken apart Rashid there. He hits two sixes in a row – one over midwicket and another over long on. Big over. 16 runs came off it. CSK get some sort of a move on. This is becoming a vital partnership for CSK.

After 11 overs, Super Kings: 62/2 (Raina 18, Rayudu 21): Williamson brings on Hooda. Begins the over with a boundary. But gives away only four runs in the next five deliveries. CSK still scoring under six an over.

After 10 overs, Super Kings: 54/2 (Raina 16, Rayudu 15): Interesting. Williamson decides to give Bhuvneshwar another over. But he goes for runs. Rayudu hits a six off the second ball – a sub-120 kmph delivery. And, Raina finishes off the over with a boundary. But this is CSK’s lowest 10-over scored in this IPL.

After 9 overs, Super Kings: 41/2 (Raina 16, Rayudu 15): Strategic time out. CSK need to regroup quickly here. They haven’t even scored run-a-ball so far. Sid Kaul keeps it tight again. Just four runs scored by the Super Kings this over. Rayudu was almost run out as well.

Rashid was taken apart in the last game by Chris Gayle. He’s started his spell with a wicket in this game.

After 8 overs, Super Kings: 37/2 (Raina 10, Rayudu 5): WICKET! More woes for Chennai Super Kings as Faf du Plessis departs after making a 13-ball 11. He tries to sweep Rashid. But he’s dragged his feet outside an Saha does a quick stumping. Rayudu in to repair the CSK innings with Raina. SRH in full control now.

After 7 overs, Super Kings: 32/1 (Raina 10, du Plessis 11): No boundary in that over by Shakib Al Hasan. Two dots. Pressure on Chennai now.

After 6 overs, Super Kings: 27/1 (Raina 8, du Plessis 9): This is the lowest Powerplay score this season. Delhi Daredevils had scored 28/2. Sid Kaul has started off well. Williamson will be pleased with this start. It’s important for his team, whose batting’s weaker without Dhawan, to save as many runs as possible.

After 5 overs, Super Kings: 21/1 (Raina 7, du Plessis 4): Suresh Raina produces a boundary off Stanlake with a slice to the backward point. But they need to get more of them.

04:17 pm After 3 overs, Super Kings: 15/1 (Raina 1, du Plessis 4): WICKET! Sustained pressure always produces a wicket in T20. And, SRH have the bowlers to do that. Watson tries taking on Bhuvi. Hits a six off the second ball. The third – a well deceived knuckle ball – he flicks it to Hooda at mid on. Superb start this by the Sunrisers.

04:12 pm After 3 overs, Super Kings: 12/0 (Watson 3, du Plessis 4): Slow start this by Chennai Super Kings. Williamson brings spin early on. Shakib bowls an economical over.

4:08 pm After 2 over, Super Kings:4/0: Watson and Stanlake manage to score just two more in the second over by Stanlake. The bowlers are getting some swing off this wicket. Can they capitalise on it and get a quick wicket here?

After 1 over, Super Kings: 2/0: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as he often does, bowls a superb opening over. Gets good shape. Watson, centurion in the previous game, was close to nick it to the keeper. Just two runs off the over.

Head to head: Chenani Super Kings 5 - Sunrisers Hyderabad 2.

03:38 pm Also, this day, 20 years ago, this happened.

What a match. What an innings. And, as Tony Grieg shrieked on air that match, “Whaddaplayya!”

03:33 pm Sunrisers win toss. Williamson says he wants to bowl first against the Super Kings. Williamson says the Hyderabad wicket won’t change much in the second innings. Oh, and, Dhawan won’t be playing this game. Bhui replaces him. And, Stanlake comes in for Chris Jordan.

For the Super Kings, Imran Tahir is replaced with countryman Faf du Plessis, who’d been recovering from a finger injury.

03:22 pm Meanwhile, the Super Kings have arrived and are all set for the showdown against Sunrisers.

03:17 pm: Shikhar Dhawan was hit on his elbow by a Barinder Sran delivery in SRH’s match against Kings XI Punjab. He didn’t train with the team ahead of the game. If he doesn’t play, how much will that hurt Sunrisers’ chances?

03:05 pm: Before we go further, here’s a look at the IPL standings after the RCB v DD match last night. From a bottom-of-the-table clash to a battle between two teams who are looking good for a top-four finish in the early stages of the league this year.

03:00 pm: Hello all and welcome to the live blog of the big match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings. It’s the battle of two teams who have started the tournament in good form, winning three and losing one of their first four matches. It’s the battle of two teams in the top four as things stand. It’s the battle of SRH’s excellent bowling attack versus CSK’s surprisingly good batting lineup.