Dale Steyn vs Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum vs Trent Boult, Suresh Raina vs Ishant Sharma, David Warner as full time captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad. If that's not enough there are also a host of star players like Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo set to feature in what promises to be an entertaining clash.
© Cricbuzz
This is Hyderabad's first game of the season and they will be keen to get off to a winning start while Chennai, who won by a solitary run against Delhi Daredevils, will be hoping for a more clinical showing. CSK have an upper hand in terms of head to head numbers, having won three out of four matches against SRH. However, this will count for little as it is a fresh season and SRH have bolstered their unit with a lot of quality.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and did not hesitate to bat first. Chennai Super Kings went in with an unchanged eleven. Sunrisers Hyderabad, in a strange move, decided to leave out Dale Steyn. Skipper David Warner, Kane Williamson, Ravi Bopara and Trent Boult were the four overseas players in the SRH XI.
CSK Playing XI: Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Ashish Nehra
SRH Playing XI: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Naman Ojha, Kane Williamson, Ravi Bopara, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a fine opening over as he troubled Dwayne Smith. The opener, who was beaten twice, got off the mark with a leading edge that travelled to the cover boundary. The much anticipated Boult vs McCullum contest got under way with the swashbuckling opener getting off the mark with a flashy drive wide of cover for a four. There was also a huge shout for leg-before in the same over, but the umpire ruled in favour of McCullum. The start, however was a sedate one for CSK as the Hyderabad bowlers bowled with a lot of discipline, not giving any freebies.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed a direct hit in the third over, giving Dwayne Smith a reprieve, and the batsman also received four bonus runs because of a overthrow. McCullum could not be kept quiet for too long as he hit the first maximum of the innings by clearing the deep mid-wicket fence off Bhuvneshwar. Thirteen runs came off that over, while the following one was productive too with McCullum and Smith managing a boundary each off Boult.
Ishant, brought on to bowl the fifth over, overstepped a couple of times and ended up conceding seven runs. Smith played and missed a couple of times, but he also managed a boundary off Ishant to keep the scorecard ticking. Karn Sharma was in for some treatment from McCullum as the New Zealand batsman deposited a short ball past the square-leg fence. However, the leg-spinner managed to complete a decent over as he gave away only two more singles.
Smith raised the half-century stand in style by coming up with a picture-perfect drive through mid-off for a four off Ishant. Ishant overstepped again and McCullum cashed in on the free hit by going over long on for his third six. McCullum also went over cover for another four in the same over, which yielded a total of 16 runs. At the strategic time out, CSK were well-placed at 65/0 after 7. Smith's first six came off the first ball of the eight over when he lofted Karn Sharma over the long-on boundary.
Smith raised the half-century stand in style by coming up with a picture-perfect drive through mid-off for a four off Ishant. Ishant overstepped again and McCullum cashed in on the free hit by going over long on for his third six. McCullum also went over cover for another four in the same over, which yielded a total of 16 runs. At the strategic time out, CSK were well-placed at 65/0 after 7. Smith's first six came off the first ball of the eight over when he lofted Karn Sharma over the long-on boundary.
Smith's outing finally came to an end when Boult hit the stumps on the direct to find the West Indian well short of the crease at the striker's end. Smith departed on 24 in the ninth over, which was bowled Ravi Bopara, who gave away only three runs. Parvez Rasool, the first player from Jammu & Kashmir to represent India, had an expensive start to his spell as he gave away 11, which included a six and a four off McCullum's bat.
Suresh Raina's first four came off Bhuvneshwar in the 11th over, but the bowler did a good job otherwise, conceding only seven runs. In the next over, McCullum got to his ninth IPL fifty in style, hitting slapping a full toss from Ishant over backward square-leg for a six. After a pleasing drive past point for a four, McCullum cashed in on a free-hit (Ishant bowled another no-ball) by bringing out the 'Bazscoop', that travelled over the keeper's head and cleared the fence. The over yielded 23 runs as Chennai blazed past the 100-run mark.
Six number seven and six number eight came in the 13th over when McCullum blasted back to back maximums off Karn Sharma. While Raina was enjoying the Baz show from the other end, he had to depart in the 14th over. A good fielding effort by KL Rahul found Raina short of the crease and he departed on 14 to leave CSK at 135/2.
Trent Boult bowled a tight over to new-batsman MS Dhoni, conceding only 5 from the 15th. Ravi Bopara, from the other end bowled four excellent deliveries and nearly dismissed McCullum when the Kiwi smashed a short delivery towards the sweeper-cover fielder, where Kane Williamson spilled a tough chance. Following the drop, Dhoni picked up a boundary past point to propel CSK to 152/2 after 16 overs.
Dhoni scored his first maximum when he just about managed to clear the long-on ropes off Bhuvneshwar in the 17th over. His next two hits were massive ones as he leathered it into the top tier past long-on and deep mid-wicket off Karn Sharma. The biggest one came off the final delivery of the over as Dhoni came down the track and deposited the ball well past the long-on fence. It was a forgettable outing for the leg-spinner, who ended up conceding 51 runs off 4 overs.
While Bopara missed an run out opportunity to give McCullum a reprieve, Dhoni's blitz continued as he managed two fours off the England allrounder to power Chennai closer to the 200-mark. By muscling a pull off Boult in the final over, Dhoni registered 15th IPL fifty. However, he fell off the next delivery, hitting one straight to Warner at cover to depart on 53 off 29 (4 fours and 4 sixes). Ravindra Jadeja was run out off the next ball while trying to get McCullum back on strike. The New Zealand opener played the Bazscoop again for maximum result and also managed the same shot to a shorter delivery to move to 99. Off the final delivery, McCullum scampered for a single after playing the ball to cover to register his second IPL hundred. Chennnai ended up with a massive total of 209/4.
Shikhar Dhawan got off to a promising start, coming up with a couple of crisp drives for fours off Ashish Nehra in the opening over. He also dispatched a short delivery off Mohit Sharma for a boundary. However, he also played a few dot deliveries while Warner faced only one delivery.
Nehra conceded nine off his next over, which included a well-guided shot by Dhawan for his fourth four. While Warner got limited strike, Dhawan did most of the scoring, before falling to Mohit Sharma in the fourth over. The Indian left-hander attemped to drive a slower delivery but ended up slicing it to Jadeja at backward point to depart on 26. SRH were 30/1.
KL Rahul, who was early into a drive, got a thick outside edge in the fifth over. However, Nehra was unlucky as the ball landed just short of R Ashwin at first slip and travelled to the ropes. Warner's first six came in the sixth over when he pulled Mohit and the ball brushed Jadeja's fingers before going past the ropes. The fielder could have probably taken the catch had he been closer to the boundary. In the same over, there was also a huge shout for caught behind, but the umpire thought Rahul did not get any nick. Rahul was struggling with his timing and his outing came to an end when he failed to pick a slower delivery from Mohit and was bowled.
MS Dhoni brought on Ishwar Pandey straight after the batting powerplay. David Warner took on the inexperienced pacer instantly, smashing a half-tracker into the deep midwicket stand. Another leg-bye for four meant that his first over costed 12.
From the other-end Ravichandran Ashwin continued his fine-run of form with a probing first over that had even Davy Warner in a tangle. What was particularly noteworthy was Ashwin's ability to extract the extra bounce of the surface. Should be a good contest, Warner v Ashwin
Dwayne Bravo, introduced into the attack in the 9th over, gave away only seven runs in his opening over. Ashwin was keeping things tight at the other end until Naman Ojha decided to take the attack to him, clearing the deep mid-wicket fence in the 10th over to take SRH to 80/2 at the halfway stage.
It was a comedy of errors in the 10th over. Warner slammed a Bravo delivery to extra cover and set off for a single. Ojha responted to his call before deciding to go back. Warner was also running towards the non-striker's end and it looked as though both batsmen would be stranded at the same end. The fielder threw the ball at the non-striker's end and Ojha reached made it to the crease in time. Warner was struggling to make his ground at the striker's end but a wayward throw from Bravo helped Warner breathe easy.
Ashwin picked up a wicket in the 12th over by sending back Naman Ojha on 15. The batsman came down the track and tried to clear the long-off fence, but failed to get the distance and ended up giving a catch to Mohit. The next man in was not Kane Williamson, but Ravi Bopara.
The required rate was constantly on the rise and it reached 18 as Ishwar and Ashwin bowled a couple of tight overs to keep SRH in check. Ishwar gave away only six runs in the 13th over and even hit Warner on the helmet. Ashwin was even more frugal in the next, conceding just three runs to finish with figures of 1/22.
With a four and a six off Ishwar in the 15th over, Warner crossed the half-century mark. However, the bowler had to last laugh as the Australian opener found Dwayne Smith at deep mid-wicket, who timed his jump to perfection. Warner departed on 53, leaving SRH at 114/4 in the 15th over.
Jadeja was introduced into the attack only after the left-hander departed and he ended up conceding 17 off his opening over with Bopara scoring back to back sixes, going over long-off before hammering one straight down the ground.
Dwayne Bravo got rid of Bopara in the 17th over to further dent SRH's chances. The batsman failed to squeeze out a yorker and was bowled. He departed on 22, leaving SRH at 136/5 in the 17th over.
Ashish Nehra bowled a couple of wides in the 18th over but was economical otherwise, conceding only seven runs. He finished with figures of 0/31.
Bravo picked up one more wicket when Suresh Raina took a terrific catch to send back Karn Sharma in the 19th over. In the final over, Williamson managed a four and a six off Mohit, but CSK managed to secure a comfortable 45-run win to register their second victory on the trot.
Brendon McCullum was at his entertaining best against SRH. ©Reuters