Follow UsChennai Super Kings (CSK) were blown away by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as they succumbed to a six-wicket loss in Hyderabad on Friday (April 5). After putting up 165, SRH took the game away in the powerplay, where they scored 78 and, in nine overs, had brought up their 100 as well.
From there, it looked like a mere formality, but the CSK spinners pulled things back, picking up three of the four wickets to fall. Despite the loss, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad looks at the positives.
"It was a slow pitch, they bowled well in the back-end, kept the game in control and didn't allow us to capitalise. I thought we did well in the beginning [of the match], but they came back well later," Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation.
"It was a black soil pitch, so we expected the pitch to be slower, but it became slower and slower, and they used the boundary size well. We conceded too many in the batting powerplay, one dropped catch and one expensive over. Still, to take them to the 19th over was a great effort. I thought anything around 170-175 would've been a good total for us."
Opening batter Abhishek Sharma was at the forefront of the destruction with his 12-ball 37, which set the tone. Despite not converting his start to a big one, he had finished off the job for SRH. "In the bowling we felt it's a bit slow wicket. We knew if we take the powerplay on, we can go with the flow after that," Abhishek said.
Speaking of today's win, SRH captain Pat Cummins said, "Different soil slowed up as the game went on. Still a fantastic game. We have got plenty of fast bowlers. Shivam [Dube] was hitting the spinners. So we took a chance with the fast bowlers bowling cutters. I would not be wanting to be bowling to him [Abhishek Sharma]."
Both CSK and SRH have won two of their four games in IPL 2024 so far. SRH take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 9 (Tuesday) in Mullanpur, while CSK have Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to contend with in Chennai on April 8 (Monday).