Pune, May 13: Ambati Rayudu struck a fine century, the maiden ton of his T20 career, and a massive 134-run stand between him and Shane Watson guided Chennai Super Kings to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Indian Premier League (IPL) game here on Sunday (May 13).
On a track where batting looked, rather easy in the second innings, CSK overhauled a stiff target of 180 runs with ease and still had 6 balls to spare. Chennai needed to win this game in order to take a giant stride towards play-offs and their batsmen took them home in style.
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Opening the innings for CSK, Watson once again looked in sublime form and struck his second half-century of the season. The right-handed Aussie batsman looked in sublime form from the first over itself as he did the bulk of scoring in the powerplay overs. With Watson batting aggressively, Rayudu took some time to settle down and joined his opening partner in scoring runs.
Chennai reached 53 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, Watson had put 34 runs into his account while Rayudu was batting at 19.
#IPL2018 centurions...
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 13, 2018
Chris Gayle 38y-210d
Shane Watson 36y-307d
Rishabh Pant 20y-218d
Ambati Rayudu 32y-232d#CSKvSRH#IPL
Watson, who had slammed a century earlier in this season at the same venue, notched up his half-century off 31 deliveries with a boundary. While Rayudu brought up his fifty with a maximum and took exactly the same number of deliveries as his batting partner.
Together they put up the second century-plus stand for their side of the season and it was the second 100-plus stand against a quality SRH bowling line up.
This #yellove is unparalleled. #PuneGroundStaff #whistlepodu #CSKvSRH 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/grfinBY9Sj
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 13, 2018
Runs were coming easily for CSK and it seemed they are going to reach home without losing any wicket but an attempt to convert a single into double cost Watson his wicket. The Aussie fell short of the crease as he looked too tired and made his descent towards the pavilion straight away. He scored 57.
Three of the four centuries this season have been against Sunrisers Hyderabad!
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 13, 2018
Gayle
Pant
Rayudu#CSKvSRH
The new-man-in Suresh Raina, however, couldn't last long as he was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma for 2. He mistimed the bowler and the ball went towards mid on region and Williamson took a brilliant running catch.
CSK lost two wickets in a gap of 4 deliveries and SRH thought to tighten things up for the hosts but Dhoni walked into the middle to calmed things down into the middle and gave Rayudu the time he wanted to reach his century.
I am overjoyed for Ambati Rayudu. Was asked to perform a different role this year and has played it stirringly.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 13, 2018
Rayudu remained unbeaten on 100 off 62 deliveries (7 fours and 7 sixes) while Dhoni (20* off 14) once again returned unbeaten. Dhoni now averages 103.25 in this season and second best in this tally is Dwayne Bravo (66.50).
None of Sunrisers bowlers managed to put CSK batsmen under pressure. Sandeep Sharma was the most economical bowler for Hyderabad.
At the halfway stage it seemed as if Sunrisers had set a really challenging total for CSK, but Rayudu and Watson made a mockery of it. Rayudu set about destroying the bowling attack to all parts of the ground. Seven fours and seven sixes saw Rayudu race to a memorable century and help CSK all but seal a playoff spot.
What a knock what a player @RayuduAmbati brilliant 💯 @ShaneRWatson33 great partnership upfront #CSKvSRH #WhistlePodu @ChennaiIPL @IPL pic.twitter.com/yOsssyyXax
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 13, 2018
Earlier, a consistent duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson stitched second successive century-plus stand and struck consecutive fifties to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to a competitive 179/4.
After being invited to bat first, table-toppers SRH were off to a cautious start but Dhawan (79 off 49 balls) and Williamson (51 off 39) once again steered their team through troubled waters and ensured they post a decent total.
Deepak Chahar's brilliant spell, @DJBravo47 's stupendous catch, @RayuduAmbati's Magnificent 💯, @ShaneRWatson33's swashbuckling innings & finally the incredible whistles of the yellow army. Fantastic Team effort #WhistlePodu @ChennaiIPL
— Lakshmi Narayanan (@lakshuakku) May 13, 2018
Dhawan and Williamson stitched a partnership of 123 for the second wicket but once they were dismissed in a gap of successive deliveries and SRH went off track.
After Alex Hales' (2) early dismissal by Deepak Chahar, Dhawan and Williamson started from where they left in the previous game against Delhi Daredevils. The duo constructed their innings well and eluded CSK bowlers their wickets till the 16th over.
The best bowling side of the tournament against the best chasers. The result has been emphatically in favour of the chasers. Top result for #CSK. I think it is good enough for a play-off berth
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 13, 2018
If Dhawan slammed his third half-century of the season, skipper Williamson notched up his seventh fifty of the season, most by any batsmen. Dhawan was dismissed by Bravo for 79 (49 balls, 10x4s, 3x6s) while Williamson (51 off 39) was removed by Shardul Thakur.
No other batsmen could pose any threat to the Chennai bowlers and the latter managed to restrict them to 179 for four. CSK, however, managed to pull things back well in the death overs as they prevented the visitors from posting an even bigger total.