IPL 2021 - CSK Vs SRH - CSK juggernaut rolls on; Hazlewood, Bravo star in CSK’s 6-wicket win

CSK becomes the first side to qualify for the playoffs after a convincing win over SRH.

Chennai Super Kings 139/4 (Gaikwad 45, du Plessis 41, Holder 3/27) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/7 (Saha 44, Hazlewood 3/24, Bravo 2/17) by six wickets

Chennai Super Kings qualify for playoffs (©Cricbuzz/Twitter)

With the help of Josh Hazlewood and Dwayne Bravo’s spells, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) became the first side to qualify for playoffs and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) became the first to get eliminated from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

The match number 44 was a face-off between the two teams, Chennai Super Kings who are firmly sitting at the top and Sunrisers Hyderabad who are at the bottom of the table.

Hazlewood, Bravo restrict Sunrisers

The spells from Hazlewood and Bravo of 4-0-24-3 and 4-0-17-2 respectively reduced Sunrisers score to 134 runs at the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. The top and middle-order of Hyderabad once again disappointed their fans as they were not able to score runs in crucial matches.

Bravo was economical in his spell of four overs as he conceded only 17 runs and took two wickets. He continued his brilliant form from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja also took a wicket each while conceding 37 runs from four overs and 14 runs from three overs respectively.

The top run-scorer for Hyderabad was Wriddhiman Saha who scored 44 runs from 46 balls which included one four and two sixes. Except Saha, only three players were able to go to the double digit mark and their scores was less than 20 runs.

The youngster Priyam Garg failed for the second time in consecutive matches as he was not able to score more than 10 runs. He has replaced the experienced middle-order Indian batter Manish Pandey from Karnataka in the side.

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Gaikwad, du Plessis provide perfect start to CSK

While chasing the target of 135 runs, CSK chased down the target in the last over with a massive six smashed by their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The Chennai openers provided an excellent start to their side and built a partnership of 75 runs from 61 balls. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 45 runs from 38 balls with four fours and two sixes while on the other hand, Faf du Plessis scored 41 runs from 36 balls with three fours and two sixes.

Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni also scored important unbeaten 17 runs from 13 balls and 14 runs from 11 balls, respectively and were there at the finishing line in the end.

The pick of the bowlers for Sunrisers Hyderabad was Jason Holder. He conceded only 27 runs in his spell of four overs and took three crucial wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina.

The Afghanistan leg spinner, Rashid Khan also took a wicket while conceding 27 runs in his spell of four overs.

IPL 2021 Points Table

Chennai qualify with 18 points, SRH out

With this victory, Chennai Super Kings remain at top of the table with 18 points from 11 games with a net run rate of +1.002. They have qualified for the playoffs. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad remain at the bottom of the table with 4 points in 11 games and are definitely out of contention for the playoffs.

On October 1, 2021, the fourth-seeded Kolkata Knight Riders will clash against the sixth-seeded Punjab Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match kicks off at 19:30 hours IST.

Twitter Reactions as CSK beat SRH

Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in 44th match of IPL 2021. Bowlers Dwyane Bravo (2/17) and Josh Hazlewood (3/24) set it up for CSK. With this win, CSK qualify for the playoffs as SRH is out of contention. MS Dhoni finished the game with a six. Entire cricket fraternity wishing MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings congratulations over Twitter. Here are some of the finest Twitter reactions for CSKvsSRH:

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