As Sunrisers Hyderabad tightened the noose around Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni struggled for breath, the sweaty conditions of Dubai not making it any easier. In the end, Super Kings, the three-time champions, fell short by seven runs to slump to their third defeat of IPL 2020.
The target wasn’t steep, Super Kings needed 165 for victory, but a slow start and their baffling practice of leaving too much to score in the death overs once again proved to be costly. In reply to Sunrisers’ 164/5, Super Kings’ chase stopped at 157/5 in 20 overs.
Sunrisers picked up their second victory, after beginning the tournament with two losses. They now occupy the fourth position in the standings, but the top six teams all have the same number of points — 4 each — and are only separated by net run rate.
To get their house in order, Super Kings made as many as three changes to their playing XI, bringing in Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur. But they were still struggling at 42/4 in the ninth over when Dhoni (47 not out off 36) and Ravindra Jadeja (50 off 35 balls) began the repair work. They shared a 72-run stand, but Dhoni got only 20 of them.
Dhoni, who was clearly struggling to catch his breath towards the end of the innings, did get a few big hits, but they were too little too late. He seldom looked comfortable during his stay at the wicket and even struggled against the part-time spin of Abdul Samad.
Rashid Khan starred with the ball for Sunrisers conceding 12 runs in his four overs.
Abhishek Sharma in Dubai on Friday. Picture courtesy IPL
Super Kings needed 86 from the last 30 balls, but the asking rate proved to be too much for what appears to be an ageing team. In contrast, the Sunrisers benefited from their youth power to turn things around from a difficult situation. The Super Kings looked to be in control of proceedings before youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma lifted Sunrisers from 69/4 to a competitive total.
Their top guns not contributing much, Garg (51 not out off 26 balls) and Abhishek (31 off 24 balls) raised a 77-run stand for the fifth wicket as Sunrisers collected 53 runs in the last four overs. Super Kings’ poor fielding towards the end helped Sunrisers continue with the momentum as they dropped Abhishek twice. But Dhoni’s team had begun the day well with pacer Deepak Chahar (2/31) troubling the Sunrisers batsmen with his swinging deliveries.
Despite the win, Sunrisers will be a bit worried with pacer Buvneshwar Kumar failing to complete his four overs because of a muscle injury in his left thigh.