Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) emerged victorious in what was a hard-fought battle against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Dubai. Defending a score of 165 wasn’t an easy task either, as their key bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to be pulled out in the 19th over owing to a thigh injury, and Dhoni-led CSK needed 43 in 11 deliveries.
Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed, who had been bowling well in the initial three overs then bowled the remaining 5 deliveries of the 19th over to finish with figures of 3.5-0-34-0.
Earlier in the day, SRH lost the wicket of opener Jonny Bairstow (0) to an inswinger from Deepak Chahar, and Warner (28) played a gutsy knock with Manish Pandey (19) and later Kane Williamson (9) to take his team to 69 in 10.5 overs.
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The outburst from a young Priyam Garg (51*) shifted the momentum in SRH’s favor and the assistance that he received with southpaw Abhishek Sharma (31) pushed the Men in Orange from 69/4 in 11 overs to 146/6 in 17.6 overs.
Warner spoke on how he backed Abdul Samad to successfully execute the final over when the score required 28 off 6 deliveries for the Chennai Super Kings to pocket the game. He added that Samad’s height and his economical figures of 3-0-21-1 to that point of time made him hand over the ball to him.
“I backed Samad – I had no option. We tried to kill the game in the 19th over with Khaleel there with five balls to bowl. Could have given it to Abhishek, but Samad with his height and the way he bowled tonight, he had to bowl the last one,” said Warner in the post-match presentation.
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Talking about the wicket in the game against CSK, the Aussie cricketer spoke that it was a bit challenging, it was helping the pacers in getting the desired swing.
“The wicket was a little better as compared to the last one. It was quite challenging, it was good to see the ball swing up front,” said the 31-year-old.
Go out there and score runs: SRH skipper David Warner
Lastly, the SRH skipper heaped praise on the effort put in by the youngsters in their tent who stood tall and executed the tasks of scoring runs and taking those crucial wickets.
“It’s my message to the youngsters, to go out there and score some runs. These guys assessed the conditions and played well, so really really proud of them. These guys really work hard, they execute their yorkers, they execute their slower ones. These are the rewards we are getting, and hopefully, we get the momentum going forward,” added Warner.
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Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg stitched a 77-run partnership for the fifth wicket that changed the course of the game.
Garg clocked a 23-ball 50, which was his maiden half-century in IPL, and remained unbeaten on 51* (26b, 6 fours, 1 six). Abhishek Sharma complimented him well by scoring 31 off 24 deliveries with 4 fours and a six.
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T Natarajan might have been a bit expensive at the end but managed to get the big wickets of Ambati Rayudu (8) and Ravindra Jadeja (50) thereby cutting the chances of CSK’s victory.
The Men in Orange are now placed at the 4th spot in the points table with two wins and two losses, 4 points, and an NRR of -0.084.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will next face the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first match of the double-header on October 4 in Sharjah.
