Vice-captain Ishan Kishan stood up under pressure and showed great maturity out there to help SRH chase down 181 to dent CSK’s playoff chances. Ishan Kishan played the role of anchor and then accelerated when it mattered the most and paced the innings really well. Before Ishan Kishan’s heroics, Pat Cummins was the star as the SRH captain put on a show after CSK opted to bat first. Pat Cummins picked up 3 wickets, while Eshan Malinga picked up one wicket, and Sakib Hussain picked up 2 wickets.
In reply, Ishan Kishan played second fiddle to Heinrich Klaasen before motoring along and anchoring the chase to the end, scoring 70 runs in the end. Klaasen made 47, and others chipped in as SRH got over the line in the end. Dewald Brevis played well for his 44, but it was not enough in the end. SRH qualifies for the playoffs for the 8th time in IPL cricket. GT also went through to the playoffs.
Pat Cummins’ 3-Wicket Haul restricts CSK to 180/7
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, keeper batter Sanju Samson and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad came out to open the batting for CSK while Nitish Kumar Reddy had the ball in hand for SRH. Nitish started with a no-ball, while the free hit went for the maximum. Sanju started with a flier, while it was a real struggle for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was playing Test cricket in the power play. The opening duo could add 31 for the first wicket before Samson fell for a quickfire 27 off 13 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name to the captain Pat Cummins. Urvil Patel came out to bat next.
Patel got going and hit some lusty blows. Gaikwad was busy with the singles. The duo put on 17 runs for the second wicket before Urvil fell for 13 off 8 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Sakib Hussain. Kartik Sharma came out to bat next. Kartik was quickly off the blocks and did the heavy lifting out there. At the end of the power play, CSK were 57/2 in 6 overs. The duo carried on beyond the power play. They put on 42 runs for the third wicket before Kartik, the form batter, fell for 32 off 19 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Dewald Brevis came out to bat next. Gaikwad and Brevis added 10 runs for the 4th wicket before the painstaking innings from Gaikwad came to an end as he fell for 15 off 21 balls to Pat Cummins. Shivam Dube came out to bat next. Dube and Brevis had to forge a partnership to rescue CSK. Brevis looked fluent while Dube struggled for timing as usual. They played through the middle phase and took the score from 100 to 144/4 in 15 overs. Brevis looked good and kept things going.
The duo of Dube and Brevis put on 59 runs for the 5th wicket before Brevis, the set batter, was cleaned up by Eshan Malinga for 44 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name. Prashant Veer came out to bat next with 13 balls to go. Well, Dube, too, did not last long after Brevis’ dismissal. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Dube fell for 26 off 23 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Hussain. Akeal Hosein came to the crease.
Hosein managed to get off the mark with a triple. Veer managed to get a couple of boundaries away. The duo of Veer and Hosein added 16 runs for the 7th wicket before Veer fell off the last ball of the innings for 11 off 9 balls with 2 fours to his name. Akeal remained unbeaten on 3 off 1 ball. CSK ended with a competitive but below-par 180/7 in 20 overs. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
Pat Cummins, the SRH captain, was the pick of the bowlers for SRH as he finished with excellent figures of 3/28 in 4 overs. Sakib Hussain finished with 2/34 in 4 overs. Eshan Malinga finished with 1/26 in 4 overs. Praful Hinge finished with 1/37 in 3 overs. Shivang Kumar finished with 0/20 in 3 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 0/35 in 2 overs. This meant that SRH needed 181 to win off 20 overs to complete the double over CSK and qualify for the playoffs.
Ishan Kishan’s masterclass takes SRH over the line and into the playoffsÂ
Chasing 181 for the win, Abhishek Sharma and Impact Player Travis Head came out to bat for SRH while Impact Player Mukesh Choudhary had the ball in hand for CSK. SRH got off to a blazing start as Abhishek was off and running. The head got very few strikes. The duo put on 18 runs for the first wicket before Travis Head fell for 6 off 6 balls with one four to his name to Mukesh Choudhary. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next.
CSK did well in the initial overs to keep the chase under check. The duo managed to forge a partnership to rebuild things for the Orange Army. SRH were 45/1 in 6 overs and were off to a steady start. The duo of Abhishek and Ishan put on 38 for the second wicket before Abhishek fell for 26 off 21 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Akeal Hosein. SRH were 56/2 in 7.4 overs when Heinrich Klaasen came out to bat next.
It was the Klaasen show from here on. Ishan showed maturity and took the back seat as Klaasen aced the middle overs and took down the spinners, Noor and Hosein. CSK didn’t know what was happening and slipped up. They were sloppy, dropped the catch of Klaasen, and it was all chaos. The duo of Ishan and Klaasen put on the defining partnership. They aced the middle phase and put on 75 for the third wicket before Klaasen fell with 50 needed off 33 balls as he made 47 off 26 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Noor Ahmad.
Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next and was up and running straightaway. Ishan took the bowling now and became the dominant partner and soon reached his fifty. He knew he was the key player in this chase and guided it through. The duo of Ishan and Reddy added 22 runs for the 4th wicket before Reddy fell for 11 off 7 balls with one four to his name to Mukesh Choudhary. Salil Arora came in next with 28 needed off 17 balls. But Ishan was in the zone.
He hit fours and sixes for runs and brought the target down to 13 needed off 12 balls. Thereafter, Arora took over and hit a maximum as well to literally seal the deal. The duo added 22 runs for the 5th wicket before Ishan fell with 6 to get the win. He fell for 70 off 47 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes to his name against Anshul Kamboj. Smaran Ravichandran came out to bat next. Soon, the victory moment came when Ravichandran hit a boundary off the last ball of the 19th over to win the game.
The duo added 6 runs for the 6th wicket unbroken as Salil was unbeaten on 10 off 5 balls with one six to his name. Ravichandran finished with an unbeaten 5 off 2 balls with one four to his name. SRH finished with 181/5 in 20 overs with 6 extras given by the fielding side.
For CSK, it was a mixed bag with the ball in hand. Mukesh Choudhary finished with 2/36 in 4 overs. Akeal Hosein finished with figures of 1/21 in 3 overs. Noor Ahmad finished with figures of 1/40 in 4 overs. Anshul Kamboj finished with figures of 1/46 in 4 overs. Spencer Johnson finished with 0/26 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube bowled an over for 12 runs. So, SRH beats CSK by 5 wickets with an over to spare. Ishan Kishan was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, SRH will next face RCB on 22nd May in Hyderabad to see whether they can finish in the top 2 with a win. CSK, on the other hand, are on the brink of elimination. They will next face GT in Ahmedabad on May 21st and try to win that to finish the season on a high note. Right, RR are back in action as they will host LSG tomorrow night in Jaipur with a win taking them to 4th place. LSG has nothing to lose.
Let’s see how things unfold in this game tomorrow night.
Also Read:Â CSK vs SRH: Must-Win Territory For CSK & SRH