Qualifier1: Chennai in Finals, Beats SRH in a neck to neck match

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and asked Sunrisers Hyderabad to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and Sreevats Goswami opened the innings for SRH while Deepak Chahar bowled the first and got the big fish Dhawan of the first ball, a golden duck for Shikhar Dhawan. Kane Williamson replaced Dhawan and added some boundaries, After 3 SRH were 28/1

Lungi Ngidi bowled the 4th over and got the wicket of Goswami who looked rusty in most of the occasion. Manish Pandey came to the crease after the wicket of Sreevats Goswami. It usually happens a batsman in great form usually get out of the bad ball and the same happened with Kane Williamson, a ball down the leg side got a thin edge as he tried to pull it. Shakib Al Hasan replaced Williamson in the middle and hit the first ball the faced for four. Chahar bowled the 6th over and conceded 6 runs. After 6 SRH were 47/3

SRH had lost 3 crucial wickets in the power play itself. Shakib al Hasan and Manish Pandey had the responsibility to build the innings for the team. Bravo bowled the 7th over. Problems didn’t seem to be over for SRH as Shakib got a glove on the ball while going for a pull short and Dhoni did no mistake behind the wickets. Shakib had to depart and Yusuf Pathan was the new man in. Jadeja was introduced into the attack in the 8th over. Batsmen were already under pressure and relied only on singles. Jadeja conceded just 3 runs including 3 dots in the over. Bravo continued from the other end and started off with consecutive short-pitch deliveries. Bravo gave just 7 runs in his over. SRH stood at 61/4 after 9 overs.

With a run rate of just over run-a-ball both the SRH batsmen were reeling under pressure as one more wicket and they would have completely lost the control over the game. Jadeja bowled the 10th over and conceded just 3 runs. Dhoni was looking for another wicket and brought back Deepak Chahar into the attack. Even though the batsmen were being careful Chahar didn’t bowl too many wicket-taking deliveries and looked only to contain the runs further, and he was successful in his objective as he gave just 3 runs in his over. Dhoni continued with Jadeja from the other end. Just when it looked like that the batsmen were had held their nerves Manish Pandey departed, thanks to a soft dismissal. Jadeja caught and bowled Pandey. Carlos Braithwaite was the new man on the crease. SRH had completely lost the rhythm and stood at 69/5 after 12 overs.

SRH was losing wickets at regular intervals. Shardul Thakur was brought back into the attack in the 13th over. Seam bowlers were bowling as per a fixed strategy, and that was to bowl short deliveries, and not provide any easy chances to score runs. Jadeja came in with the 14th over and ended his spell with amazing figures of 1/13. Bravo bowled the 15th over. He bowled his trademark slower deliveries. He bowled a short delivery outside off and Yusuf Pathan pounded it away for a four towards off side, only to be followed by a wonderful catch by Bravo to dismiss Pathan off his own bowling. Pathan attempted a power hit straight down the ground but hit it right into the hands of Bravo. Another caught and bowled and SRH had lost one more wicket. SRH were 88/6 after 15 overs.

Lungi Ngidi returned for the 16th over. 4 runs came off the over. Bravo came in to bowl the last over of his spell. SRH couldn’t cross the 100 run mark in the 17th over as well and Bravo ended a successful spell having taken 2 wickets and conceding just 25 runs in his 4 overs. Shardul Thakur was back and Brathwaite changed his gears and welcomed Thakur with consecutive sixes. Thakur made a good comeback and leaked just 5 more runs in the rest of the over. Lungi Ngidi returned with his last. Brathwaite was trying to experiment too much with his shot selection and Bhuvneshwar wasn’t able to connect the ball. The result was that SRH were not able to take as much advantage of the death overs as much they would’ve wanted to. Ngigi bowled a brilliant 19th over and conceded just 4 runs in it. Thakur bowled the 20th over and it appeared that his brief was to bowl consistently outside off. He tried to do just that. Brathwaite walked towards off, Thakur missed his line and gifted a low full-toss and Brathwaite treated it perfectly with a six. Thakur again bowled outside off but Brathwaite was ready and hit him for a boundary towards covers. SRH’s innings ended with another six straight down the ground and Bhuvneshwar’s dismissal. SRH posted a low total of 139/7 for their bowlers to defend. Going by the past record and the kind of bowling attack that SRH had, the game was not over yet. CSk needed 140 runs to win the match and reserve a spot for themselves in the final.

Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis opened the innings for CSK while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the first over. Kumar was off to a good start and was swinging the ball both ways. SRH needed early wickets to give themselves a chance to win the match. Four dot balls and Kumar had set the stage for what came on the 5th delivery. Another quick out-swinger and Watson got an edge on it and the wicket-keeper did no mistakes. CSK had lost their first wicket and Suresh Raina came in on number 3. Sandeep Sharma started the second over with a loose delivery outside-off and Raina smacked him away for a four. But Raina didn’t just stop at that and followed it with consecutive boundaries and put Sharma under pressure. Sharma went for 13 runs in his over, including 3 fours and a single. Kumar continued with his second over. Both the batsmen played it safe and just 6 runs came off this over. CSK were 20/1 after 3 overs.

Siddarth Kaul was introduced into the attack and took an important wicket dismissing Raina who was looking good. Raina went across, leaving his leg stump exposed and Siddarth Kaul hit the spot just right. The man in form Ambati Rayudu was the next man in but didn’t spend too much time on the crease as Kaul clean bowled him. Rayudu departed for a duck paving way M S Dhoni to come into bat next. Kaul finished a successful over conceding just 4 runs and taking 2 crucial wickets. The momentum had shifted a little bit and Williamson looked to continue the attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 5th over. Dhoni played 5 dot balls and Kumar gave just 1 run in his over. Kaul continued from the other end. Dhoni was looking to slow down the game after the fall of quick wickets. It took him 9 balls to go off the mark but followed it with a boundary towards deep fine leg region. The game had become even as CSK stood at 33/3 after 6 overs.

Brathwaite was introduced into the attack and bowled a tight over as the batsmen were avoiding any risky shots. 3 runs came off this over. Rashid Khan was brought into the attack for the first time in the match. The move paid-off and Rashid dismissed Dhoni who completely misread the ball that was coming inside after hitting the pitch. Dhoni also got a fine inside edge on the ball that stormed right into the wickets. Dwayne Bravo was the new man in. Brathwaite continued and bowled the 9th over. SRH were well into the game as its bowlers were bowling as per expectations. CSK was under pressure and Du Plessis was grappling with his own game. He just managed to hit a six which just went past the fielder in the deep fine leg region. CSK stood at 48/4 after 9 overs.

Rashid Khan bowled the 10th over and wasn’t providing too many choices for the batsmen to go for big runs. The asking rate had gone way past 8 rpo and the two batsmen on the crease had the responsibility to take CSK to the other end of the finishing line. Williamson brought another spinner into the attack. Shakib came in to bowl the 11th over. Runs were only coming in singles and the required rate climbed to 9.3 rpo. Rashid Khan came in with his third over. Bowled a short delivery and Bravo fell victim to a soft dismissal and handed a simple catch to Dhawan at slip while attempting a cut shot. Ravindra Jadeja was the new man on the crease. Khan was turning the ball well and continued his domination. CSK were struggling at 61/5 after 12 overs.

Sandeep Sharma surprised Jadeja with a knuckleball, which resulted in the fourth caught and bowled of the match. Jadeja had to depart. Deepak Chahar was the next man on the crease. Du Plessis had been on the crease since the beginning of the innings but never seemed to get going. Shakib came in to bowl the 14th over. Singles continued and a boundary came on the penultimate ball, courtesy of a mis-field. But Du Plessis went after the last ball and hit the ball for six straight down the ground. Du Plessis had a lot riding on his shoulders as CSk stood at 80/6 after 14 overs needing 60 runs in the last 6 overs.

Du Plessis just survived a dismissal, thanks to the DRS. However, the batsmen continued to struggle and Khan conceded just 1 run his over. CSK were 93/7 after 16 overs.

Siddarth Kaul was back into the attack with his third over. The required run rate was over 12 rpo. CSK was in desperate need of boundaries but the batsmen weren’t able to find the gaps. Only 4 runs came in this over. CSK needed 43 runs off the last 18 balls. Braithwaite was brought into the attack for the 18th over. Singh was finding it difficult to time the ball and took a single off the first ball. Du Plessis knew that he had to fire to get closer to the target and he got the rhythm just in time and hit Brathwaite for consecutive boundaries. Harbhajan was dismissed later in the over and Shardul Thakur made his way on the crease. Du Ples Plessis rose up to the occasion in a crucial match and took CSK through to the final with significant help from Shardul Thakur’s wonderful cameo of 15 runs off just 5 balls. SRH who were in the driving seat for the first 17 overs of the game lost the match in the last three overs.