Hyderabad rise to the occasion to post first-ever win at Chepauk

CHENNAI: Ishan Kishan's breezy 44 and Kamindu Mendis' undefeated 32 proved to be pivotal as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings for the first time in the IPL at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. The five-wicket win means SRH keep their slim hopes of qualifying for the play-offs. On the other hand, this was CSK's seventh defeat of the season and the five-time champs remained at the bottom of the standings. Barring a miracle, their chances of making the play-offs is all but over.

Needing 28 runs off four overs, Hyderabad happily took extras, all thanks to a poor over from CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana. He gave away 15 runs in the 17th over, an over that proved to seal their fate. It could be regarded as a lapse in judgement from stand-in captain MS Dhoni as the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj had one over left to bowl. Chasing a target of 155, Hyderabad didn't have the best of starts, losing Abhishek Sharma in the second ball of their innings to Khaleel. A little while later, Anshul castled the dangerous Travis Head with his trademark delivery. Put under pressure, Heinrich Klaasen was caught by Deepak Hooda off Ravindra Jadeja.

It seemed like CSK were back on track. When Ishan was sent back by Noor Ahmad in the 12th over, CSK had a real opportunity to make in-roads and take the game away from SRH. 

However, Kamindu, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy, held firm to get SRH over the line. Earlier, Dewald Brevis, who was drafted into the CSK squad recently, had made an instant impact, scoring 42 off just 25 deliveries to help the home side reach 154 in 19.5 overs. CSK were reeling at 47/3 in the sixth over when the South African walked in to bat. Brevis was picking the length early and his powerful bat swing enabled him to effortlessly clear the ropes as many as four times during his entertaining knock. Brevis struck Mendis for three sixes in an over to show his potential and also exhibit his understanding of the shortest format of the game. Apart from Brevis, Ayush Mhatre (30, 19b) was the only other batter who showed some real spark. The rest could not convert their starts and got out due to poor shot selections. Coming in at No 8, Dhoni perished under pressure as he failed to force the pace and got caught at backward point off Harshal Patel. Harshal was the standout bowler for the visitors and dismissed three more batters apart from Dhoni.

After being to bat first, CSK had a disastrous start, losing Shaik Rasheed in the very first ball of the game. Rasheed played away from the body to a well seam-up delivery in the outside off corridor and Abhishek, who was fielding at the slips, took a regulation catch. In contrast, Ayush whacked Mohammed Shami to the cover fence. That set the tone as Ayush meted out the same treatment to Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins with his impeccable timing. He played out the experienced Jaydev Unadkat with ease by picking up the length early. Sam Curran, coming in at No 3, did not make much noise but was able to add 39 runs for the second wicket which was crucial.

Brief scores: CSK 154 in 19.5 ovs (Brevis 42; Harshal 4/28) lost to SRH 155/5 in 18.4 ovs (Kishan 44, Mendis 22, n.o; Noor 2/42).