HYDERABAD: Chennai Super Kings fans painted the Uppal Stadium yellow, but Sunrisers Hyderabad held their nerve to register a thrilling 10-run victory in the IPL at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.Asked to bat, Abhishek Sharma raced to his fastest IPL half-century, reaching the landmark in just 15 balls, and finished with a blazing 59 off 22 deliveries (6×4, 4×6). Heinrich Klaasen continued his rich form, striking his third fifty of the season, a fluent 59 off 39 balls (6×4, 2×6), as the hosts posted a competitive 194/9. SRH looked set for a bigger total before CSK clawed back through disciplined spells from Jamie Overton (3/37), Anshul Kamboj (3/22) and Mukesh Choudhary (2/21).
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However, Eshan Malinga (3/29), Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/31) and Shivang Kumar (1/18) bowled controlled spells to steer SRH to their third victory of the season. Defending 18 in the final over, Praful Hinge, who had gone for 54 in his first three overs, conceded just seven runs to win it.CSK stumbled early, losing Sanju Samson (7) in the second over as he top-edged Nitish to Klaasen. Nitish almost struck again four balls later, but Klaasen failed to hold on to a tough chance that would have dismissed Ayush Mhatre for a duck.
Mhatre capitalised, smashing Hinge for 24 runs in an over. However, hampered by a hamstring injury, he fell after adding 51 runs in 21 balls with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Klaasen pulled off a stunning catch at extra cover to end his stay. Malinga then removed Gaikwad (19) in the next over, though CSK still reached 76/3 in the Powerplay.Sarfaraz Khan and Matthew Short added 46 runs for the fourth wicket before Sarfaraz (25 off 19 balls) flicked Malinga straight to Nitish in the deep.
The visitors slid to 113/5 soon after as Shivang outfoxed Dewald Brevis for a duck. Short and Shivam Dube put together a 35-run stand, but Malinga struck again in the 16th over to derail the chase.Earlier, SRH scored 23 runs in the first three overs. Travis Head (23 off 20 balls) and Abhishek added momentum by plundering 15 runs off Kamboj’s fourth over. Abhishek then tore into spinner Matthew Short, smashing 25 in an over with three fours and two sixes to reach his rapid fifty.Mukesh pulled things back in the sixth over, dismissing Head caught smartly by Gaikwad at mid-off before Ishan Kishan fell for a duck off the next ball.Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 194 for 9 in 20 overs (A Sharma 59, H Klaasen 59; J Overton 3/37, A Kamboj 3/22) bt CSK 184 for 8 in 20 overs (A Mhatre 30, M Short 34; E Malinga 3/29, N Reddy 2/31) by 10 runs.
