IPL 2021: The Chennai Super Kings are the team to beat at the moment, Brian Lara said

IPL 2021: The Chennai Super Kings are the team to beat at the moment, Brian Lara said

IPL 2021: The Chennai Super Kings are the team to beat at the moment, Brian Lara said

New Delhi : Chennai Super Kings romped to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 23rd match of IPL-14 tonight, rising to the top of the points table with their fifth victory in six matches. Royal Challengers Bangalore also have 10 points, but CSK are ahead on net run rate.

Chasing Hyderabad’s competitive total of 171, CSK got the job done for the loss of only three wickets, with nine balls to spare.

Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (75 off 44 balls, 12 fours) and Faf du Plessis (56 off 38, 6 fours, 1 six) laid the foundation for CSK’s win with a stand of 129. When Gaikwad was bowled by Rashid Khan (3/36) in the 13th over, CSK’s scoring rate was 10 runs per over, and they needed only 43 more off 42 balls. Moeen Ali (15) and du Plessis were dismissed off consecutive balls by Rashid in the 15th over, but Suresh Raina (17 off 15) and Ravindra Jadeja (7 off 6) took the team to victory without trouble.

Kane on fire

Hyderabad had reached 171 courtesy a fiery little knock of 26 not out off 10 balls by Kane Williamson and Jadhav’s 12 off four, though Manish Pandey (61 off 46 balls) and David Warner (57 off 55) were the top-scorers. In fact, when both Warner and Pandey fell in the 18th over, Hyderabad had reached only 134, and had only 13 deliveries left in the innings. Williamson and Jadhav managed to smash 37 runs off the last 13 balls to take Hyderabad to a challenging total. Lungi Ngidi was the best bowler for CSK, returning figures of 2/35 while Sam Curran (1/30) got the other wicket.

Warner, who passed 10,000 T20 runs during the course of his innings, appeared frustrated at times at his inability to force the pace on a track on which the ball was not always coming onto the bat. His 50th IPL half-century had three fours and two sixes but it was not his usual aggressive, bustling knock. — TNS, agencies

Brief scores: SRH: 171/3 (Pandey 61, Warner 57; Ngidi 2/35); CSK: 173/3 in 18.3 overs (Gaikwad 75, du Plessis 56; Rashid 3/36).