IPL 2021, CSK vs SRH as it happened: CSK get fifth win in a row to go top of the table

So that’s it from us folks. A double header on Thursday. MI vs RR are first up and that will be followed up by DC vs KKR.

CSK skipper MS Dhoni: The batting was superb. But that doesn’t mean the bowling was not good. It was a surprisingly good wicket. Whenever we come to Delhi we never expect a wicket like this. It was coming on nicely, there was nothing for the spinners as well. Good thing was there was no dew. Last night we felt 170 was just below par if there’s no dew. Brilliant opening partnership.

SRH skipper David Warner: I take full responsibility for the way I batted, it was really slow, found a lot of fielders and I got frustrated. The way Manish batted was exceptional. Kane got us to a respectable total, but I take full responsibility as it was a total below par. I probably hit 15 good shots to the fielders, I couldn’t do much about it. It gets frustrating as a batsman when you find the fielders.

After 18.2 overs, SRH 173/3: Raina closes it out with a four for CSK. CSK get their 5th win in a row to go top of the table. They have beaten SRH by 7 wickets. As emphatic a statement as anyone could hope to make.

After 18 overs, SRH 167/3: No pressure. CSK are making this look so easy. Two fours in the Kaul over... CSK need 5 runs in 12 balls.

After 17 overs, SRH 158/3: 8 runs off the over including a superb pull shot by Jadeja, highlighting the kind of form the left-hander is in. Chennai Super Kings need 14 runs in 18 balls to win this.

After 16 overs, SRH 150/3: Chennai Super Kings need 22 runs in 24 balls. A superb chase so far. They need to keep it together for just a few overs more.

After 15 overs, SRH 148/3: WICKET! Another one for Rashid. He traps du Plessis LBW. The review did not help. Is there a final twist in the tale? The CSK opener made 56 off 38 balls.

After 14.5 overs, SRH 148/2: WICKET! A couple of fours and then the wicket. Moeen wanted to keep playing the shots and that is always difficult to do against Rashid. The left-hander made 15 off 8 balls. CSK need 24 runs off 31 balls to win.

After 14 overs, SRH 137/1: Moeen comes in and gets going right away. CSK can do no wrong today.

After 13 overs, SRH 129/1: WICKET! Rashid Khan gets Gaikwad with a superb delivery. Gaikwad was playing for the googly but was bowled by the leg-spinning delivery instead. The right-hander made a classy 75 off 44 balls with 12 fours. 14 runs and a wicket in the over.

After 12 overs, SRH 115/0: Nothing working for SRH. Gaikwad gets to his fifth IPL fifty off just 36 balls. Three consecutive fours in the Suchith over for him. Brilliant opening stand for CSK.

After 11 overs, SRH 100/0: Faf gets to his 19th IPL fifty off just 32 balls. The South African is putting on a superb show and his partnership with Gaiwkad is making things very difficult for SRH.

After 10 overs, SRH 91/0: CSK are cruising here. 7 runs off the Rashid over – Gaikwad showing that he can play spin very well. The leggie dropped it a little short and the right-hander pulled it away for four.

After 9 overs, SRH 84/0: Suchith getting smashed for 17 runs in his over. Exception play by both CSK openers. They are targetting him as Rashid is on from the other end. Suchith has conceded 30 in his two overs so far.

Chennai Super Kings need 105 runs in 72 balls with 10 wickets in hand.

After 8 overs, SRH 67/0: Rashid into the attack and just 4 runs off his over. CSK will look to not take too many risks against the leggie as long as the run keep coming against the other bowlers. Time for a strategic timeout. Faf has 35 (24) and Gaikwad has 31 (24).

After 7 overs, SRH 63/0: Suchith into the attack and Gaikwad punishes him with some lovely strokes. Two fours in the over.

After 6 overs, SRH 50/0: A good Powerplay for CSK. They haven’t lost wickets and put up some good runs too. Faf is hitting some amazing shots in the middle and the current scenario would worry Warner. Rashid Khan will come into the attack soon. SRH were 39/1 at the same stage.

After 5 overs, SRH 43/0: Another edged four for Gaikwad, who hasn’t exactly got into his stride yet. But du Plessis is looking very good in the middle. He has already made 26 off 15 balls.

After 4 overs, SRH 31/0: Back-to-back fours for Faf du Plessis! The first one was crunched past point and the next one was a thick edge past Bairstow. Khaleel Ahmed has been expensive in his two overs so far.

After 3 overs, SRH 21/0: An extraordinary boundary for Gaikwad! He stepped wide of the crease and Sandeep chased him, but the outside edge flew past the leg stump and beat Bairstow (to his right) and went for four. The commentators could hardly believe what happened. Six runs from that over.

After 2 overs, SRH 15/0: Du Plessis is up and running! The South African right-hander picks a hat-trick of twos before stepping out and thumping one over cover for four. Good over for Chennai as Khaleel struggles to find the right length.

After 1 over, CSK 4/0: Steady start from Sandeep Sharma, just five from it. Both Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad are in form and SRH would want to strike early.

9.23 pm: Sandeep Sharma is starting things off for SRH. CSK need 172 to win.

After 20 overs, SRH 171/3: 44 runs off the last 3 overs and SRH have given themselves a chance here. Brilliant hitting by Williamson (26 off 10 balls) in the end and Warner and the SRH bowlers will not believe they can win this.

After 19 overs, SRH 158/3: What an over for SRH – 1, 4, 6, 4, 4, 1. Williamson has come in and hammered 24 off 7 balls. 20 runs off the Thakur over. The bowler really had no answer to Williamson’s genius. The Kiwi wasn’t even trying to hit the ball to hard... just seemed to know what was coming his way.

After 17.5 overs, SRH 134/3: WICKET! Faf du Plessis times his dive perfect to take an outstanding catch in the deep and ends Manish Pandey’s stay in the middle. The right-hander made a fine 61 off 46 balls.

After 17.1 overs, SRH 128/2: WICKET! Wide delivery from Ngidi had Warner reaching for it. It didn’t hit the middle of the bat and popped up to Jadeja from an easy catch. The SRH skipper never managed to get going... 57 off 55 balls... a struggle.

After 17 overs, SRH 127/1: When SRH do manage the big shots, CSK fielders are coming up with brilliant efforts in the field to deny them boundaries. That has been the story today.

After 16 overs, SRH 121/1: Warner gets to his 50th IPL fifty with a six off the second last ball. The SRH skipper is finally starting to get his timing right today. But despite the six, just 8 runs from the Jadeja over. SRH need the big overs... they have wickets in hand but the runs aren’t coming at the pace they would like.

After 15 overs, SRH 113/1: Pandey gets to his 20th IPL fifty off 37 balls. A vital knock for SRH... and a few balls later, Warner (48 off 48) smashed a six. A twist in the tale? Can CSK hold their nerve?

After 14 overs, SRH 102/1: SRH finally get 100 on the board. 10 runs from the Jadeja over which also included an under-edge four for Pandey.

After 13 overs, SRH 92/1: Pandey has moved on to 42 off 30 balls after a 10-run over from Thakur. Pandey is still managing to his the odd big shot but Warner is struggling big time. Might it be better for SRH to have someone else in the middle?

After 12 overs, SRH 82/1: Five runs from Jadeja’s first over. Dhoni probably kept him out of the attack because of Warner but he has made a good start.

After 11 overs, SRH 77/1: SRH assistant coach Brad Haddin believes 170 is a good score on this wicket but his team is going only at 7 RPO and they still have a lot more to do. Warner got a four in the over.

After 10 overs, SRH 69/1: One big six for Pandey in the Moeen Ali over and little else. Still, a 10-run over is a big one for SRH today. Warner has no rhythm today but at some point soon, he will have to go for broke.

After 9 overs, SRH 59/1: Five runs from Ngidi’s first over. Solid start for him but Warner (28 off 33 balls) and Pandey (21 off 17) need to get a move on now. Are they leaving it too late?

After 8 overs, SRH 54/1: Time for a strategic timeout and a lot of thinking to be done for SRH. Are they going at a decent enough rate? Do they need to take things up a notch?

After 7 overs, SRH 47/1: Poor start by Shardul Thakur. He comes into the attack and concedes 8 runs. One ball down the leg-side and dragged short was hit by Warner to fine leg for four.

After 6 overs, SRH 39/1: A lovely drive through the covers for four by Pandey. But this has been a tight Powerplay by CSK. SRH haven’t got away to a flyer.

After 5 overs, SRH 32/1: Pandey is in the middle and SRH will like him to come good today. He is a class act but far too often, he takes too long to get going.

After 3.2 overs, SRH 22/1: WICKET! Curran strikes. Bairstow (7 off 5) holes out to Chahar at deep square leg. Dhoni has positioned a fielder there for just that shot.

After 3 overs, SRH 20/0: Two fours in the first three balls of the over – one for Warner and one for Bairstow – set the tone. Chahar getting some swing but he hasn’t got his line right yet.

After 2 overs, SRH 9/0: Steady over by Sam Curran. Batsmen still trying to get their eye in on the Delhi wicket.

After 1 over, SRH 3/0: Chahar to bowl the first over and he almost got the wicket of Bairstow. The SRH opener got an edge down the leg-side but Dhoni was unable to hold on. Big miss this.

Players are taking the field. We are all set for the match to begin.

Playing XIs: Two changes for CSK. Lungi and Moeen are back in place of Bravo and Tahir. Two changes for SRH too. Sandeep Sharma and Manish Pandey are back in.

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Jagadeesha Suchith, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul

Toss: Warner wins the toss and SRH are going to bat first.

Pitch: It looks like a good batting surface and dew is expected to be a factor later in the evening.

Hello and welcome to the coverage of Indian Premier League. Tonight is the first match of the tournament’s league phase in Delhi, where Chennai Super Kings take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. The league’s in-form team (four wins in a row) versus the league’s bottom-placed team (one win in five). On paper, CSK start clear favourites against a struggling SRH side.