IPL 2018, CSK vs SRH: Rayudu ton seals CSK's 8-wicket win

Pune: Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu powered Chennai Super Kings to a dominant win against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday.

In what turned out to be a must-win clash for Dhoni’s men, it was a walk in the park as the CSK batsmen never gave SRH a chance for a breakthrough throughout the run-chase.

However, despite losing Watson and Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu ( 100 not out) and MS Dhoni (20) guided the hosts to an eight-wicket win.

During the course, Rayudu got to his maiden IPL century.

CSK 137-2 from 14.1 overs

WICKET! Suresh Raina's stay at the crease has been shortened ashe is dismissed for two runs by Sandeep Sharma.

CSK 134-1 from 13.3 overs

WICKET! Shane Watson has been run-out for 57 runs as SRH finally get the breakthrough. But, is this too late for the visitors?

CSK 114-0 from 12 overs

Shane Watson (52 runs) and Ambati Rayudu (62) have powered the hosts past 100 with their respective fifties. This seems like a dominant run-chase. Will the Men in Yellow complete a 10-wicket win?

CSK 53-0 from 6 overs

This is just the start CSK would have wanted. While Shane Watson has already scored 34 runs from just 20 balls, Ambati Rayudu has been supporting well from the other end, with 19 from 16 balls.

SRH innings

Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan’s fifties guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to 179-4 after being put to bat first by the Chennai Super Kings.

The hosts struck early with the wicket of Alex Hales but from there skipper Williamson and opener Dhawan took charge of things with a 123-run stand for the second wicket. Just as the table toppers looked set for a big total, CSK bounced back by sending both the set batsmen back to the pavilion.

Deepak Hooda and Shakib Hasan kept the momentum going in the latter stages to set a massive total for the team.

SRH 171-4 after 19 overs:

WICKET! Pandey's terrible run continues. Cross seam delivery and the batsman slashes hard only to find the man at long off.

CAUGHT! TWO IN TWO FOR CSK! Thakur bowls it wide outside off and the SRH skipper goes for it. Doesn't connect well as the ball goes up in the air before being collected by Bravo at deep point.

SRH 141-2 after 16 overs:

WICKET! Bravo strikes and breaks the 123-run stand between Dhawan and Williamson. Change of pace deceives the batsman, who find Harbhajan at short fine leg.

SRH 100-1 from 13 overs:

Dhawan and Williamson have made a move as SRH have upped the ante. The southpaw has brought up his fifty and the Kiwi skipper has started to open his shoulders. Ominous signs for CSK.

SRH 51-1 from 9 overs:

Williamson and Dhawan have managed to put in a partnership but CSK have managed to keep things tight. It's a strategic time-out and SRH will like to resume the proceedings, with all guns blazing.

SRH 18-1 from 3.3 overs

WICKET! Deepak Chahar has struck early to remove Alex Hales for just two runs, as Suresh Raina completes a fantastic catch at cover-point.

Toss update

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have won the toss and elected to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Sunday in the 46th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018.

CSK and SRH have made a change each in their playing XIs. For CSK, Deepak Chahar, who was nursing an injury, has made a comeback to the team, replacing Karn Sharma in the team. For SRH, Yusuf Pathan has made a way for Deepak Hooda.

CSK will to brush aside their loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) as they target a win, on Sunday, against Sunrisers Hyderbad (SRH) to brighten their chances to join the Kane Williamson-led unit IPL 2018 playoffs.

CSK had a night to forget with the ball as RR chased down a 176-run target in Jaipur on Friday. However, the MS Dhoni and co will be back at their home for the season and will look to resume winning ways against a side which has made defending low scores an art form.

While SRH’s bowling has been their strong suit, they showcased their batting might, chasing down 187-run target with utmost ease against Delhi Daredevils. CSK, in this case, will have to tighten the bowling.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf Du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanish Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshtiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur and N Jagadeesan, David Willy.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C ), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.

Match-timings:

Match starts at 4 PM.