Chennai Super Kings 202 for 2 (Gaikwad 99, Conway 85*, Natarajan 2-42) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 189 for 6 (Pooran 64*, Williamson 47, Abishek 39) by 13 runs
He has had a largely ordinary season so far, but against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Ruturaj Gaikwad displayed stroke-play that has had many excited about him to help set up a win for Chennai Super Kings in MS Dhoni’s first match back as captain. This was Super Kings’ third win in nine matches this IPL.
It was mostly a vintage Super Kings innings: a slow and steady start, consistent acceleration through the middle overs, batters who get in going on to play big innings. Gaikwad fell one short of a hundred, opening partner Devon Conway scored an unbeaten 85 off 55, and the two added 182, the highest stand this IPL. The defence of 202 wasn’t an easy one with the absence of the injured Dwayne Bravo adding to their bowling woes but Maheesh Theekshana and Ravindra Jadeja went for just a run a ball in the seven overs between them to help create wickets at the other end. And, Mukesh Choudhary starred with four wickets for the defending champions.
Sunrisers eventually fell short by 13, which left them with 10 points from nine games, joint-fourth with Royal Challengers Bangalore but with a game in hand.
More to follow
Source: ESPN Crickinfo