Chennai: After facing two consecutive losses, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) returned to winning ways in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by convincingly defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here.
Chasing 176 Tuesday, CSK rode on a brilliant 96-run knock from their veteran batsman Shane Watson to once again move to the top of the points table. Watson, who took 53 balls and hit nine fours and six sixes, however missed out on a fifth IPL hundred as Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/18) got his wicket.
Earlier, Manish Pandey remained unbeaten on 83 with the help of seven fours and three sixes but could not lead his team to an imposing total as Sunrisers managed only 51 runs in the last six overs after Warner’s dismissal as Sunrisers managed 175/3 in their stipulated quota of 20 overs.
“It was a par score on that wicket. There was dew on the ground but that didn’t really bother us. The way Watson batted we couldn’t really do much. The credit goes to Watson,” Kumar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
SRH failed to give a fitting farewell to their explosive opener Jonny Bairstow, who will be leaving for England to attend the World Cup camp. The stand-in skipper acknowledged the fact that the team would miss Bairstow.
“We will obviously miss Bairstow, but we have players in the squad who can replace him,” he said.
SRH are currently placed at the fifth spot with 10 points from 10 games. Next they will travel to Jaipur to face Rajasthan Royals, who are almost out of the tournament.
“We have three away games now out of four and we have to win those games to qualify. We have to be our best to defeat RR,” Kumar said.