Friday 26 April 2013

25 Apr ’13 : CSK vs SRH : CSK won by 5 wickets

Chennai : Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from the front with an unbeaten 67 as Chennai Super Kings registered their fourth consecutive win in the Indian Premier League (IPL), beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here Thursday.With Super Kings struggling at 99 for three, Dhoni played an brilliant 37-ball innings that was studded with seven fours and four sixes as Super Kings achieved the target of 160 with two balls to spare. Dhoni was also adjudged Man of the Match.Sunrisers had made 159 for six in 20 overs after Shikhar Dhawan, playing his first match of the season, struck a valiant unbeaten 63.With the win, Super Kings consolidated their second place on account of better run-rate. Super Kings remained at second with 12 points Sunrisers remained at the third place with 10 points.Super Kings started their chase on a strong note with Mike Hussey (45) and Murali Vijay (18) adding 65 runs for the first wicket.At a time when it looked that the openers were settled, Vijay stepped down the track to hit leggie Amit Mishra (3/26) but missed the line and was stumped by Quinton de Kock. You can be hero and villain on the same night. Ask Amit Mishra and Ashish Reddy. Reddy scored a whirlwind 36 off 16 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad get 59 off the last four overs and give them something to bowl at. Mishra kept them alive with the wickets of Michael Hussey, M Vijay and Suresh Raina. However, Mishra, promoted to No.5, wasted 21 balls for just 15 runs, and dropped MS Dhoni even before he had opened the account. Reddy was given the last over to bowl with 15 to defend, and a now-rampaging Dhoni to face. Reddy completely froze, and bowled the most predictable slower balls imaginable for Dhoni to win it easily.Spared villainy was Dwayne Bravo who bowled length in the final overs to allow Reddy those runs, but more crucially batted like a rabbit in the headlights, manufacturing - as the IPL's wont has been - a thriller out of nowhere. He played out a maiden from Karan Sharma - who registered this IPL's most economical four-over figures of 0 for 8 - in the 16th over. Then he holed out on the bowling of Ishant Sharma for a near game-changing 7 off 16.The man who well and truly snatched heroism from villainy was Dhoni. He too began dozily, playing six dots before he top-edged Dale Steyn to long leg where Mishra missed him. How Dhoni made Sunrisers pay for it. Firstly, after Bravo's maiden left Super Kings needing 46 off last four, Dhoni hit two sensational and consecutive pulled sixes off Steyn, who at times bowled at close to 150 kph. One over midwicket, and the other dragged from wide outside off to clear long-on. This was brutal hitting against the best bowler in the world.

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