Chenni: Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's belligerent 98 was complemented by a clinical bowling display, led by pacer Tushar Deshpande, as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 78 runs in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.
Invited to bat, Gaikwad's valiant 54-ball knock was the driving force, which propelled CSK to an imposing 212/3. He was ably supported by Daryl Mitchell, who returned to form with a crucial 32-ball 52, before Shivam Dube's 20-ball 39 not out took CSK past the 200 mark.
In response, SRH's ultra-cautious batting approach backfired again as they couldn't recover from Deshpande's three-wicket burst with the new ball and the middle-overs squeeze to be all out for 134 in 18.5 overs as CSK snapped their two-game losing run.
Following the win, CSK moved to the third spot with 10 points, same as Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, SRH and Delhi Capitals. SRH slipped to fourth after their fourth loss.
Chasing 213 to win, Travis Head (13) and Abhishek Sharma (15) made rapid starts but Deshpande got rid of the former with a slower wide ball and then returned to remove impact sub Anmolpreet Singh with an outswinger on the stumps as the batter went for a golden duck.
Abhishek was next caught at deep point as Deshpande broke their back, leaving SRH 40/3 in the fourth over.
Nitish Reddy (15) and Aiden Markram (32) tried to steady the ship but Ravindra Jadeja bamboozled the former with a bouncer, while Matheesha Pathirana produced a superb yorker to uproot the middle stump of the South African.
At 85/5 in 10.5 overs, Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad joined hands but runs were tough to come by as the bowlers executed their plans to perfectly.
While Jadeja completed a superb spell of 4-0-22-1, Shardul Thakur kept bowling at wide outside off to frustrate the batters as CSK conceded just two boundaries in nine overs after the powerplay.
With an improbable 104 needed off 30 balls, Klaasen, Samad, Pat Cummins and Shahbaz Ahmed all holed out as Mitchell claimed five catches in the outfield. Deshpande ended with figures of 4/27.
Earlier, Gaikwad missed out on a successive hundred by a whisker but his 107-run stand with Mitchell was the cornerstone of CSK's innings. It is CSK's 35th 200-plus total, the most by any side in T20 cricket.
Gaikwad was the star of the CSK batting as he hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings.
Opening the innings, Ajinkya Rahane (9) perished early again with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earning his wicket in the third over but Gaikwad kept CSK going. The skipper did not back down and attacked the bowlers at will as the hosts ended the powerplay at 50/1.
In no time, the 27-year-old Gaikwad brought up his 17th IPL half-century off just 27 deliveries.
Gaikwad and Mitchell batted sensibly as they managed to keep the boundaries coming.
With dew setting in the 12th over, the batting duo tried to take advantage of it as Mitchell soon brought up his maiden IPL 50 off 29 deliveries in the 13th over.
But the New Zealander failed to get going for too long and perished in the following over to Jaydev Unadkat after depositing a full-toss into the hands of Nitish Reddy in the deep mid-wicket.
In-form Shivam Dube then joined Gaikwad and the two decided to up the ante. SRH skipper Cummins was targeted by the batters, having been dispatched for 49 in his four overs.
Gaikwad looked set to back-to-back tons but the heat and humidity of Chennai seemed to affect him as his vigil ended with a tired-looking shot as T Natarajan sent him back in the final over.
Crowd-favourite M S Dhoni scored five not out off two deliveries that included a four, while Dube deposited a full toss in the stands as the final four overs yielded 53 runs.