An outstanding 20-ball half-century from David Warner saw Sunrisers Hyderabad to a match-winning 192 for seven as Chennai Super Kings fell to a second successive defeat.
The Sunrisers, maligned for their inconsistent performances so far this season, got off to a flying start with Warner striking a fluent, hard-hitting 61 from just 28 balls. However, the captain’s dismissal at the hands of Suresh Raina’s part-time spin, after 11 fours and a six, triggered a mini-collapse that put the brakes on Sunrisers’ innings.
Moisés Henriques was the next to go, stumped by MS Dhoni off the bowling of Pawan Negi for a run-a-ball 10, before Shikhar Dhawan was run out just as he tried to cut loose three overs later with his side 131-3 from 13 overs. Eoin Morgan and Naman Ojha looked to keep the run rate up, but the England captain struggled for fluency and the latter was dismissed for a quickfire 20.
At one stage, the Sunrisers would have been targeting a total north of 200, but, with Morgan bogged down and wickets falling around him – Ashish Reddy was outfoxed by a Dwayne Bravo slower ball for six – they were forced to adjust expectations and eventually did well to get close, thanks largely to Morgan finally cutting loose and plundering 13 off the 19th over.
Brendon McCullum looked in no mood to hang around chasing the target of 193, dispatching Trent Boult for three consecutive fours, but he was bowled in the second over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar without adding a further run.
Undeterred by the loss of McCullum, Dwayne Smith and Raina kept the chase on course before Henriques dismissed the former for a breezy 21 and the latter, two overs later, for 23, with all of the first three wickets to fall being catches in the deep.
With Dhoni and Faf du Plessis at the crease, the target still looked within reach, but two wickets in two balls effectively ended the contest. First, Du Plessis was run out in unfortunate circumstances: Dhoni’s drive ricocheted off the South African at the non-striker’s end, then off the umpire into the hands of the bowler Ashish Reddy, who removed the bails. Reddy then bowled Dhoni next ball with one that kept low. At that point the required rate was around 12 an over, which proved far too steep for Super Kings’ lower order.
