Sharjah: Chennai Super Kings became the first team to qualify for IPL 2021 play-offs as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by sox wickets last night.Captain Kane Williamson too failed with the bat as he missed a full delivery by Dwayne Bravo. The West Indies all-rounder struck again to send back Priyam Garg.
Wriddhiman Saha (44) and late cameos from Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad helped SRH to post 134/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad provided the perfect platform for CSK to chase down the small target.
Kane Williamson, SRH captain, said, ‘Ā Not quite enough runs. It wasn’t an easy surface and although we didn’t get enough we showed a fighting spirit in the last quarter with the ball. We need 10-15 extra runs with the bat though and we need to make those small changes. After the powerplay we were 40-something and although you feel like you want more, it was a good start on that surface. You want to score a few more runs though, but we saw some nice contributions from the lower order. We need to improve. This team is at the top of the table. If you make better decisions with the bat, the final score could have been a little more. CSK played really well. It looked challenging and variable. We are back to the drawing board. Although every match is about the W or the L against your name, you do look at the growth of the team. This season has been a bit disjointed given that it was played in two halves, but we’ll look to grow and build some momentum.’
Josh Hazlewood, Man of the Match, said, ‘Ā I put in a lot of hardwork and learnt a lot every game. It’s hard to learn since there’s a different team every game, but it’s satisfying. Getting Roy was a big wicket, and it was good to put the pressure back on them early. The wicket offered a little bit, it was on the slower side and a little low as well. We are happy we are applying whatever we are doing in the practice. It’s good to learn from DJ Bravo over the last few weeks too, and it’s been a great learning curve for me’.
MS Dhoni, CSK (winning) captain, said, ‘Ā It means a lot, because the last time, we said we wanted to come back strong. We are known for that and there was a lot at stake. You won’t always win games and a lot didn’t go our way last time, and it’s important not to make excuses and we have done that this year. The boys did well to keep the momentum going, and they’ve taken responsibilities to keep all departments of the game in balance so the players and the support staff get the credit. The bounce of the wicket was different – instead of knee height, it was shin height, and once the batsmen figured out that they have to hit straight, they succeeded. The bowlers tried to swing it up front and got hit straight when they pitched it up too much, but then adjusted very well. I told the bowlers that they needed to exploit the conditions in today’s game. If the odd ball stopped early on, it started coming onto the bat later. Not much needs to be said of the fans, who have supported us through thick and thin and I’m glad we have repaid their faith.’