IPL 2022, CSK vs SRH Top Performances: Ruturaj-Conway 182-run stand stuns SRH; CSK get 3rd win

IPL 2022, CSK vs SRH, Top Performances: Ruturaj-Conway staggering 182-run opening partnership for CSK, Mukesh Choudhary’s 4-46 and Dwaine Pretorius’ crucial scalp of Kane Williamson are major performances from the game between CSK and SRH.

MS Dhoni back as CSK captain, beat SRH by 13 runs (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: CSK 202-2 (Ruturaj 99, Conway 85*, Natarajan 2-42) beat SRH 189-6 (Pooran 64*, Williamson 47, Choudhary 4-46) by 13 runs

Player of the match: Ruturaj Gaikwad for his 99 off 57 balls

Fourth-ranked Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) locked horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Sunday evening.

Chennai Super Kings have performed below par this season and are ranked second last in the IPL points table. On April 30, Ravindra Jadeja decided to step down as CSK captain through a tweet, which was later confirmed by CSK’s official Twitter handle. The franchise also informed that Jadeja had requested Mahendra Singh Dhoni to don the captain’s hat once again which Dhoni accepted ‘in the larger interest and to allow Jadeja to focus on his game’.

SRH kept the same eleven as their previous game, whereas CSK included Devon Conway and Simarjeet Singh in place of Shivam Dube and unfit Dwayne Bravo. Sunrisers won the toss and opted to field first.

Chennai Super Kings had earlier faced Sunrisers 17 times in IPL, in which the former have a way better record. Chennai had won 12 games out of those 17 and lost five of them.

Chennai registered a win on the comeback of MS Dhoni as captain

As Kane Williamson put CSK in to bat first on the MCA Stadium pitch, the latter’s new opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway dominated opponent bowlers in powerplay overs. They continued their carnage to add 182 runs for the first wicket to put their side on top. CSK amassed 202 runs in 20 overs after losing two wickets.

While chasing a huge score of 203 runs, Sunrisers openers Abhishek Singh and Williamson kicked off the innings in an explosive manner. They amassed 52 runs in the first five overs, however, they lost two back-to-back wickets in the sixth over. Next batter Aiden Markram also got out early on a personal score of 17. Williamson and wicketkeeper batter Nicholas Pooran kept Sunrisers in the hunt for the target. However, pacer Dwaine Pretorius dismissed Williamson in the 15th over to subdue the chase of Sunrisers. Nicholas Pooran remained unbeaten on 64 off just 33 balls, but his knock went in vain as Sunrisers lost the game by 13 runs in the final analysis.

Let’s take a look at the top three performances from the southern derby between CSK and SRH.

Gaikwad, Conway's 182-run stand helps CSK beat SRH (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Ruturaj Gaikwad-Devon Conway blow away potent SRH bowling attack

Chennai put at work a new opening pair on Sunday. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway were appointed the openers’ role as their previous opening pairs failed to stitch any significant partnership in the first eight games in this season of IPL. CSK openers, thus far, had managed to add only 101 runs in eight IPL games.

However, on Sunday, Ruturaj and Conway started the innings positively. Ruturaj pulled a huge six over the fine leg boundary off pacer Marco Jansen at the start. Ruturaj and Conway bestowed a steady partnership of 40 runs in powerplay overs. Though they changed gears against express pacer Umran Malik, by unleashing an array of strokes against the express bowler.

The Maharashtra batter pummelled a four and a six in an over bowled by Malik. Conway followed in the footsteps of Ruturaj, to clobber a four and six against part-time spinner Aiden Markram.

Ruturaj continued to play his strokes against opponent bowlers. He toyed with Markram and Malik by smacking boundaries at will. He completed his fifty in just 33 deliveries. The opening duo brought up the first 100-run partnership for CSK in this season of IPL.

Conway played second fiddle to Ruturaj in most parts of the innings. However, in the fifteenth over he clobbered two gigantic sixes and a four in an over of Jansen to garner a staggering 20 runs and completed his fifty on the comeback in just 43 deliveries. Both batters continued their carnage against opponent bowlers to frustrate them.

At last, Thangarasu Natarajan dismissed Ruturaj in the eighteenth over of the innings, resulting in the batter missing his century by just one run. However, he smashed six elephantine sixes and six fours in his phenomenal knock. Conway cracked two more boundaries in the final over of the game to help his side reach above 200 in 20 overs. He remained unbeaten on 85 in just 55 deliveries. He slammed eight elegant boundaries and four sixes in his spectacular knock.

The opening duo added 182 runs for the first wicket to break all partnership records in this season of IPL. Also, they beat the previous record of highest partnership for CSK, which was 181* registered by Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis against Punjab Kings in IPL 2020.

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Mukesh Choudhary takes 4-fer against SRH and helps CSK get two points (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Mukesh Choudhary twin strikes derail Sunrisers

While chasing a staggering target of 203 runs, Sunrisers openers, Abhishek Sharma and Williamson, kicked off the innings with an array of boundaries from the first over of the innings only. They smashed 52 runs in the first five overs to put Sunrisers, on the course of chasing the huge total.

However, young pacer Mukesh Choudhary cleaned up the two batters off back-to-back deliveries, to put Sunrisers on the backfoot. Choudhary bagged the wicket of Sharma by bowling a slower ball, which the batter pulled towards long on and Pretorius didn’t make any error while grabbing the catch. On the next delivery, he cramped the next batter, Rahul Tripathi for room and the batter gave a catch straight to Simarjeet Singh.

Again, when Sunrisers required 56 runs in the last three overs, Dhoni brought back Choudhary into the attack. Choudhary bagged two more wickets to complete his four-wicket haul. He dismissed Shashank Singh and Washington Sundar to puncture the chase of the Sunrisers.

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Dwaine Pretorius provides vital breakthrough of Williamson against SRH (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Dwaine Pretorius cleaned up Williamson to end Sunrisers’ fightback

Sunrisers’ skipper Williamson batted aggressively from the first over of the innings. After losing three wickets in the space of a few overs, Sunrisers were in deep trouble in front of an elephantine target of 203 runs.

Skipper Williamson and Pooran tried to put Sunrisers back on the road for the chase. When Williamson was on 20, wicketkeeper Dhoni dropped a difficult catch off left-arm spinner Jadeja. Williamson took the advantage of the dropped catch and continued to milk the runs.

At last Protea pacer Pretorius trapped Williamson plumb in front of the wickets. The batter opted for a review, but it couldn’t save him as the ball-tracking system showed the ball crashing onto the stumps.

Pretorius came to bowl the penultimate over of the innings and put Pooran in trouble throughout the over. However, CSK fielders dropped his catch twice in this over. Thus, Pretorius' bowling figures looked mediocre - 40 for one in four overs - despite its huge impact on the game.

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TATA IPL 2022 Points Table

TATA IPL 2022 Points Table: CSK remain at no. 9 with 3 wins

What’s to come

Kolkata Knight Riders will face Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 21.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from CSK vs SRH game, IPL 2022:

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