Report: Match 50 – CSK v SRH

Warner hands SRH crucial win

David Warner (90 off 45 balls) may have missed out on a well-deserved century, but he certainly helped his team’s cause as they try to grab the last available Playoffs spot in Pepsi IPL 2014. Thanks to the left-handed opener’s heroics, Sunrisers Hyderabad made easy work of Chennai Super Kings’ 185-run total. Also aided by Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten half-century, the visitors romped home by six wickets with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Darren Sammy won the toss and asked CSK to take first strike. The Men in Yellow then got a great start, thanks to Dwayne Smith and his new opening partner, Faf du Plessis. The pair added 33 runs in quick time. However, their partnership ended due to a freak run-out, which saw the ball deflecting

off Karn Sharma’s hand and hitting the stumps at the non-striker’s end, finding du Plessis (19) short of his ground. However, Smith (47) continued to go after the opposition bowlers with full force. Thanks to his big hitting, CSK scored 60 runs in the powerplay. But Karn Sharma soon got the better of the West Indian opener, leaving CSK on 68 for two.

Suresh Raina (4) also fell to the SRH leg-spinner; the southpaw holed out to Aaron Finch in the ninth over. Upon his dismissal, MS Dhoni joined David Hussey in the middle and the pair brought up the CSK 100 in the 14th over. And then, after getting their eye in, both batters unleashed a flurry of strokes, picking a combined 40 runs off the next three overs. With the scorecard reading 140 for three after 17 overs, the duo had built a platform for a late-innings onslaught; and that is exactly what the Ranchi crowd witnessed.

Both batters took the attack to the opposition to plunder 21 runs off the next two overs. And then, in the final over, Dhoni waged an all-out attack on Dale Steyn – the CSK skipper struck two fours and two maximums to reap 24 runs from the final six balls of the innings. Thanks to Hussey (50*) and Dhoni’s (57*) unbroken 108-run stand, CSK posted 185 or three in 20 overs.

In response, SRH got a dream start, thanks to David Warner. From the very first over, the Australian opener stepped on the accelerator and took the CSK bowlers to the cleaners. He even dominated the strike as Shikhar Dhawan played the supporting role at the other end. Thanks to the early onslaught, SRH posted 64 for no loss in the powerplay – including 21 runs in the sixth over, in which Warner brought up his half-century. By the halfway stage, the visitors had clocked in 100 runs – out of which Dhawan accounted for 16 and Warner a staggering 80.

However, a century eluded the left-hander as he was dismissed by John Hastings just 10 runs short of it, in the 12th over. But by then, Dhawan had settled in and began to guide the run-chase. In the company of Naman Ojha (17) – who returned to the dugout in the 18th over – the SRH opener added 52 runs. Dhawan (64*) even lost Sammy’s company in the final over with SRH just two runs adrift of the target. However, Venugopal Rao (4*) struck the winning blow with two balls to spare. As a result, SRH registered a big six-wicket away win and bagged two points at a stage where a total of three teams are vying for the one remaining Playoffs spot.

Man of the Match: David Warner for his match-winning half-century 

Report: Match 49 – KKR v RCB

Knight Riders storm into Playoffs with 30-run win

Kolkata Knight Riders became the third team to make it to the Pepsi IPL 2014 Playoffs, thanks to their 30-run win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. After Robin Uthappa (83 off 51 balls) and Shakib Al Hasan (60 off 38 balls) helped KKR to 195 for four, Sunil Narine (4-0-20-4) led the charge for the home side to clock in a massive win.

Earlier, Virat Kohli asked the hosts to bat first after winning the toss at Eden Gardens. Mitchell Starc then dealt an early blow by dismissing Gautam Gambhir (4) in the first over itself. Manish Pandey (13) was the next man to depart; Ashok Dinda claimed his scalp, leaving KKR on 23 for two in 3.4 overs. However, Robin Uthappa continued his good run in the tournament. He initially played second fiddle to Yusuf Pathan as the duo took the score past the 50-run mark in the seventh over. However, after Yusuf (22) was run out shortly thereafter, Uthappa came into his own. With Shakib Al Hasan at the other end, the KKR opener scripted yet another valuable knock for his side.

The duo took their team’s score past the 100-run mark in the 12th over. And a couple of overs later, Uthappa brought up his half-century – his fifth this season. Meanwhile, even Shakib was going great guns; he also struck routine fours and sixes to take KKR to the 150 mark in the 16th over. His fifty came up soon after with a strike to the boundary. However, Shakib’s (60) 38-ball knock ended in the 19th over when Abu Nechim cleaned him up. However, Uthappa (83*) stayed unbeaten till the end – claiming the Orange Cap in the process – and along with Ryan ten Doeschate (6*) helped KKR put up 195 for four in 20 overs. In fact, the home team scored 109 runs for the loss of just one wicket in the second half of their innings.

RCB’s response to KKR’s massive total was anything but ideal. The visitors just scored one run off the first over, and after picking up five from the first five balls of the next, they lost Chris Gayle (6), who was trapped leg-before by Umesh Yadav. Then, Yogesh Takawale and Virat Kohli tried to get RCB’s run-chase back on track. Capitalising on the limited opportunities offered by the KKR bowlers, the two batters brought up the team’s 50 in the eighth over. But they then unleashed, plundering 17 runs off the next over and taking the RCB score to 72 at the halfway stage.

But just when it looked like they were building something special, Kohli (38) perished; Sunil Narine got rid of the RCB skipper in the 13th over. And a couple of deliveries later, the wily spinner got the better of Takawale (45) as well. With the scorecard reading 93 for three in 13 overs, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers came together. But they were unable to accelerate immediately, and with five overs remaining, RCB were still 90 runs adrift of the target.

That is when Yuvraj (22) unleashed and played a vital role in plundering 22 runs off the 16th over. However, the southpaw was sent back by Narine in the next. And yet again, the off-spinner dealt a double-blow as he bowled out de Villiers off the last ball of his over to finish with stunning figures of four for 20 and reclaiming the Purple Cap. And while Sachin Rana (19*) and Starc (12*) added 32 runs for the sixth wicket, they could not avoid a 30-run loss. Thanks to this win, KKR qualified for the Playoffs with one more league fixture to go.

Man of the Match: Robin Uthappa for yet another match-winning half-century