SRH vs CSK IPL 2018 Match Report: Chennai win in last-ball thriller, Rayudu is Man of the Match

(Image: BCCI, iplt20.com)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an absolute thriller, which went down to the last ball.

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With SRH needing 19 off the last over, Dhoni decided to entrust the job on Dwayne Bravo, who gave away 3 runs in the first 3 balls. Wriddhiman Saha got two off the second delivery and 1 off the third.

It was Rashid Khan on strike when Bravo bowled a length delivery on middle, which the Afghan pulled over square leg for a six. With 10 need from the last two, Khan edged the penultimate delivery that raced to the fence.

This wasn’t expected and now Rashid need 6 from the last ball to see his side home at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

Bravo bowled a perfect yorker, into the blockhole and all Rashid could do was play it towards long-on and get a single. Bravo made sure he did not bowl a lose delivery and got the better of Khan under pressure.

Earlier, CSK had managed 182 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. It was Man of the Match Ambati Rayudu who led the way scoring 79 runs of 37 deliveries, after Chennai had lost Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan, respectively.

Suresh Raina supported Rayudu well and scored 54 himself. Dhoni also chipped in with 25 from 12 balls.

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Although the total was big enough, SRH failed to get off to a good start and were reduced to 3/22 in the fifth over. It was captain Kane Williamson who put pressure on the bowlers, and slammed 5 fours and 5 sixes to get tilt the tide in Hyderabad’s favour.

He along with Yusuf Pathan put on a superb partnership and almost saw their side home. But when Williamson got out on 84 (51 balls), Pathan 45 (27 balls) too followed suit and was back in the pavilion.

It was left to wicket-keeper Saha and Khan to take them over, but Bravo had the last laugh. Khan remained not out on 17 off just 4 deliveries, while Saha managed 5 off 5.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have now topped the IPL 2018 points table after their win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), being tied at 8 points with Kings XI Punjab but ahead on net run rate.