IPL: Chennai bury Hyderabad as Dhoni finishes off with six

MAHENDRA Singh Dhoni brought back the memory of the final of the 2011 ICC World Cup at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday (30) when he hit a six against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to finish the game off for his team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

The two-time champions found Hyderabad tightening the screws towards the end of the game while chasing a moderate target of 135 but their 40-plus skipper’s massive shot ensured that they remained unbeaten in the second phase of the tournament that kicked off on September 19. They won by 6 wickets with two deliveries remaining.

The CSK now have 18 points from 11 games and are one of the strong contenders to finish among the top two teams in the points table. Delhi Capitals are in second place with 16 points from as many games. Royal Challengers Bangalore are at three with 14 from 11 and Kolkata Knight Riders with 10 from 11.

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Hyderabad won their last game against the Punjab Kings after losing five matches on the trot but the defeat against CSK means they are almost out of the contention for the playoffs. If Kolkata beat Punjab on Friday (1), it will be all over for the 2016 champions.

Coming back to Thursday’s game, Dhoni won the toss and sent Kane Williamson’s side to bat first. It was a less than impressive batting show from SRH with wicket-keeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha top scoring for them with 44 off 46 balls. But apart from that, Hyderabad’s line-up could only produce a few 18s and 17 which did not help them in posting a challenging total. For CSK, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood took three wickets for 24 runs while Dwayne Bravo took two for 17.

For CSK, the chase looked easy as their openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (45 off 38) and Faf du Plessis (41 off 36) gave them a brisk start and added 75 runs in 10 overs. However, West Indian seamer Jason Holder then pulled back things by taking three wickets that slightly rattled the Chennai middle-order. They slumped to 108 for four in the 16th over but Ambati Rayudu (17 not out off 13) and Dhoni (14 not out off 11) finished it off, facilitating Hyderabad’s chances of an early exit.