Chennai Super Kings defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match no. 23 in New Delhi on Wednesday.
SRH posted a challenging total of 171 for 3 after opting to bat first.
Skipper David Warner scored 57 runs while Manish Pandey came up with a 61-run knock.
In reply, CSK cruised to an easy win with Faf du Plessis (56) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (75) sharing a 129-run opening partnership.
MS Dhoni’s men have been brilliant since losing the league opener to Delhi Capitals.
They completely dominated the Sunrisers in all departments and yet again, replaced the Royal Challengers at the top of the table.
The star of CSK’s innings was the short-in-stature yet big-in-talent, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming is a big fan of Gaikwad and today, we got to know exactly why.
The Chennai opener survived some anxious moments in the beginning and went on to score a match-winning 75 off 44 balls to take home the Player Of The Match trophy.
He was ably supported by his partner Faf du Plessis who registered his third half-century of the season to become the highest run-getter.
In the process, he became the owner of the Orange Cap, grabbing it from Delhi’s Shikhar Dhawan.
The former South African skipper has now scored 270 runs in six games.
It was the second time this season that Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis have put on a 100-run opening stand.
The only silver lining for SRH was the explosive batting of Kiwi star, Kane Williamson.
Kane scored four boundaries and a six to score 26 in just 10 balls and helped Hyderabad reach 171/3.
Captain David Warner contributed 57 but it came off 55 deliveries.
Manish Pandey scored 61 in 46 balls but got out at the wrong juncture.
For CSK, Lungi Ndidi was the best bowler taking 2 for 35 in 4 overs.
Chennai Super Kings 173 for 3 (Gaikwad 75, du Plessis 56, Rashid 3-36) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 171 for 3 (Pandey 61, Williamson 26*, Ngidi 2-35) by seven wickets.
