IPL 2022 | CSK vs SRH | Abhishek Sharma announces himself on big stage with match-winning 75 against CSK

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have registered the first win of their campaign with a clinical victory over Ravindra Jadeja’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They chased down the target of 155 in 17.4 overs, handing CSK their fourth consecutive loss.

Hyderabad’s decision to persist with Abhishek Sharma as the team’s opening batter had raised quite a few eyebrows. But the young left-handed batter repaid the faith shown in him by the management with a masterful 75 off 50 balls.

Abhishek’s maiden half-century was laced with five fours and three sixes. He held onto one end as his captain, Kane Williamson, struggled with his timing. At the end of five overs, SRH had managed a meagre 24 runs on the board. But the last over of the Powerplay bowled by debutant Mahesh Theekshana changed the momentum completely.

Abhishek took on the Sri Lankan off-spinner and made his intentions clear, with SRH taking 13 runs off his over. Williamson fell in the 13th over, with Mukesh Choudhary ending his scratchy innings of 32 off 40.

CSK could not capitalise on the momentum as Rahul Tripathi joined Abhishek on the pitch as kept the scoreboard ticking. The latter finally fell in the 18th over when SRH required just ten runs to win. Nicholas Pooran and Tripathi ensured no further hiccups as SRH registered their first victory of IPL 2022.

Earlier, SRH had won the toss and chose to bowl. Hyderabad made two changes in their XI, with Marco Jansen and Shashank Singh receiving their SRH debut caps as the duo replaced Romario Shepherd and Abdul Samad, respectively. CSK, on the other hand, brought in Mahesh Theekshana for Dwaine Pretorius.

Chennai’s batters struggled on a pitch that rewarded skilful bowling. Barring Moeen Ali (48 off 35 balls), none of the batters seemed to get their timing right. However, Sunrisers’ bowlers rose to the occasion with their miserly bowling.

Washington Sundar scalped Robin Uthappa’s wicket on the very first ball of his spell in the fourth over. T Natarajan then sent Ruturaj Gaikwad packing with a top-notch inswinger, bowling him through the gates. Ambati Rayudu and Ali tried to steady the ship, but the scoring rate remained slow and steady.

Jadeja delivered a few lusty blows towards the end to propel the team’s score to 154-7. However, Dhoni and Shivam Dube failed to impact the game as CSK fell short of a par score on a slow pitch.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will surely be happy with the win tonight as they propel themselves to the eighth spot on the points table. But, on the other hand, the defending champions were handed their fourth loss and have dropped to the ninth place in the league standings.

Brief scores

Chennai Super Kings- 154/7

Moeen Ali 48(35)

Washington Sundar 21/2, T Natarajan 30/2

Sunrisers Hyderabad-155/2

Abhishek Sharma 75(50), Rahul Tripathi 39*(15)

Mukesh Choudhary 30/1