CSK confirm playoffs spot after 6-wkt win over SRH

Sharjah: Chennai Super Kings became the first team to confirm their spot in the playoffs of the IPL 2021 after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

Chasing 136, Chennai overcame a mini-collapse in the middle to reach the target with two balls to spare. It also makes Hyderabad the first team to be knocked out of the tournament.

Chennai were in complete control of the chase from the word go. After a sedate start of 12 for no loss in three overs, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six each on the on-side in the fourth over. In the next over, du Plessis creamed Jason Holder on both sides of the 'V'.

Gaikwad went after Rashid Khan, top-edging a sweep over fine leg followed by a straight six down the ground. He also got an lbw decision overturned to leave power-play unscathed at 47/0. Du Plessis brought up the half-century of the opening partnership with a straight loft over Siddarth Kaul's head.

Hyderabad broke the 75-run partnership at the half-way stage with Gaikwad lofting to mid-off off Jason Holder, falling five runs short of his half-century. Moeen Ali continued the flow of runs with boundary through pulls off Holder and Khan. In a bid to go big, Ali tried to heave through the leg-side off Khan in the 15th over. But Ali inner-edged to the pads and ball rolled to the stumps.

Holder had two wickets in the next over, trapping Suresh Raina lbw followed by du Plessis top-edging a pull to short mid-wicket. With 22 runs needed off 18 balls, Rayudu lofted Kaul over extra cover.

In the next over, Rayudu launched Kumar for a six over long-on. It was followed by Dhoni crunching a four through cow corner to calm the nerves in the Chennai camp.

Dhoni finished off the chase with a huge six over deep mid-wicket off Kaul in the final over to seal a playoff spot for his team.

BRIEF SCORES: Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/7 in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 44, Abhishek Sharma 18, Josh Hazlewood 3/24, Dwayne Bravo 2/17) lost to Chennai Super Kings 139/4 in 19.4 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 45, Faf du Plessis 41, Jason Holder 3/27, Rashid Khan 1/27).

Meanwhile, IPL's newest sensation Venkatesh Iyer's footwork or the lack of it will be put through a stern test against the sharp googlies bowled by Ravi Bishnoi when Kolkata Knight Riders square off against a beleaguered Punjab Kings here on Friday.

Knights all-rounder Venkatesh has caught everyone's attention with his fearless strokeplay against genuine pace but Bishnoi's wrist spin has troubled the best in the business during the last two editions.

It will be the biggest match-up in the game which is very important for KL Rahul's Punjab Kings if they have any intentions of staying afloat in the competition. Rahul had admitted after the defeat against Mumbai that his team has not played well under pressure and needs to put up a better fight.

The poor show from the middle-order has also hurt them badly as only Rahul (422 runs) and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal (332 runs) have found some form. 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle, with 193 runs from 10 games, has been the biggest disappointment.

Likewise, Nicholas Pooran, the highly rated West Indies dasher, has managed only 70 runs in 10 knocks which perfectly summarises Punjab Kings' troubles. The Indian talent has also not come to the party as far as batting is concerned with both M Shahrukh Khan and Deepak Hooda not making the best use of the opportunities that they have got so far.

There have been way too many batting collapses and it will be a challenge of sorts for these players to face Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy on a slow track.

The eight overs from the premier spinners could go a long way in deciding the fate of the match. Punjab also has problems aplenty in the bowling department with none save for Bishnoi (9 wickets economy rate 6.16) have been able to trouble the opposition batsmen.