Magazine : 
TATA IPL 2024: SRH Clinches Six-Wicket Victory Over CSK, Credits to Abhishek, Bowlers
The bowlers of Sunrisers Hyderabad cleverly utilized the sluggishness of the pitch by employing slower deliveries and maintaining precise lengths, while Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Aiden Markram showcased impeccable batting performances to lead the home team to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings.
Playing on a black-soil pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Sunrisers Hyderabad effectively utilized slower deliveries to their advantage as the ball aged, resulting in a commendable effort to limit Chennai Super Kings to 165/5. Particularly noteworthy was the seamers' performance in the final five overs, conceding only 38 runs and significantly curbing CSK's scoring momentum. During this period, batters struggled to time their shots against the deceptive cutters, with Shivam Dube's 45 being the highest individual score for CSK, including two boundaries and four sixes.
Head and Abhishek came out swinging to decide the result of the match in the Power-play itself, where they amassed 78/1. Eventually, SRH completed the chase in 18.1 overs to get consecutive wins at home, with Markram making a 36-ball fifty to give CSK their second successive defeat on the road.
Electing to bowl first, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar found some early swing and was rewarded with his first wicket of IPL 2024 when Rachin Ravindra top-edged a pull to mid-on in the fourth over. Ajinkya Rahane got going by hitting both Cummins and Bhuvneshwar over long-on and non-striker’s head for six and four respectively. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad steered and hit a gorgeous, lofted drive for six off Bhuvneshwar as CSK reached 48/1 in six overs.
But CSK was given a jolt on the first ball of the eighth over when Gaikwad mistimed a loft and holed out to long-on for 26 off 21 balls off Shahbaz Ahmed. Dube came out all guns blazing against spinners by hammering Ahmed for six and four, followed by giving out same treatment to Mayank Markande. Dube thrilled everyone by hammering T. Natarajan for back-to-back sixes over the mid-wicket fence, though he was kept quiet by a change of pace from Cummins. From the other end, Rahane struggled to get fluency due to SRH’s change of pace.
Cummins bowled a slower bouncer well outside the off stump, forcing Dube to throw his hands at it and the batter gave a catch straight to backward point, falling for 45 off 24 balls. The slower ball again did the trick for SRH as Rahane sliced to backward point off Jaydev Unadkat, falling for a 30-ball 35, followed by Daryl Mitchell holing out to long-on off Natarajan in the final over.
In the pursuit of 166, Travis Head received an early reprieve when he attempted a flashy cut off Deepak Chahar, only for Moeen Ali to spill the catch at first slip during the opening over. Just four balls later, Head compounded Chennai Super Kings' frustrations by elegantly ramping a short delivery for six runs. Mukesh Choudhary, the left-arm fast bowler making his first competitive appearance since December 2022, struggled with his line and length, providing Abhishek Sharma with ample opportunity to punish him with two boundaries and three maximums, conceding 27 runs in the second over.
Despite Aiden Markram reaching his maiden fifty of the competition, Moeen Ali dismissed him lbw just four deliveries later, also accounting for the wicket of Shahbaz Ahmed for 18 in similar fashion. However, Chennai Super Kings' efforts came too late to significantly alter the course of the game. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen efficiently scored the remaining runs, with Nitish Kumar Reddy sealing the victory in style by lofting a six straight down the ground.
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