Right, that’s me done for the day. A good, surprise win for the Sunrisers. I called Warner’s captaincy naive earlier, so it’s good to see him lead from the front with a thrilling half-century. It really was the difference between the two teams and, though the bowlers did well to keep taking wickets and keep the chase in check, Warner deserves the plaudits.
Thanks for reading. Bye.
Sunrisers win by 22 runs
20th over: CSK 164-6 (Jadeja 12, Bravo 23) target 193 Right, Praveen Kumar to bowl and he has 28 runs to work with. The first ball cannons off Jadeja’s pad and they run a leg-bye. A wide then, to prolong things slightly, before Bravo clumps down the ground for one more. Jadeja then does the same, then Bravo digs out a yorker for – you guessed it – a single. This is quite the low-key ending. Jadeja pushes down to long-on, giving Bravo the strike for the last ball and he clips that to short-fine leg.
19th over: CSK 164-6 (Jadeja 12, Bravo 23) target 193 Who does Warner go to for the final over? Who cares? CSK need 29 from it. As for this over, the highlight is a lovely little shot from Bravo as he gets to the pitch of a full, straight one and opens the face, steering it down to fine third man for four.
18th over: CSK 155-6 (Jadeja 7, Bravo 17) target 193 Boult is on for his final over, with the safety net of a 17-an-over required rate underneath him. It’s quite the non-event, with seven runs coming from the first five – each and every one of them utterly forgettable – before Bravo smears a full-toss over cover for four.
17th over: CSK 144-6 (Jadeja 3, Bravo 12) target 193 Four to begin with, as Bhuvi Kumar goes too full with a yorker and ends up seeing a full-toss driven through cover to the fence. A single brings Negi on strike and he doesn’t last any longer, cleaned up by Kumar. Oh and then Henriques throws down the stumps with a brilliant bullet throw from the edge of the circle at cover, with Bravo just back in his crease in time.
Wicket! Negi b B Kumar 15
Full and straight, the batsman backs away and loses his leg-stump.
16th over: CSK 136-5 (Negi 15, Bravo 7) target 193 With Henriques bowled out (2-20 his figures, by the way), Praveen Kumar returns to bowl his yorkers. A juicy full-toss really should be put away by Negi, but it just goes out to deep cover on the bounce. Six from the over, all in singles and that’s beautiful, match-winning bowling. If only it meant something, eh?
15th over: CSK 130-5 (Negi 12, Bravo 4) target 193 Hullo again. It’s Reddy again, after his success last time out. Negi looks to smear him into the on-side and misses out, getting just one. Two balls later he doesn’t, smearing it off a length, way over mid-wicket for six. Next ball he backs away and slaps through extra cover for four more. A full-toss, a single and it’s 14 from the over.
Toulon have won their third straight European Cup. Which is pretty much the worst thing that could happen for rugby.
14th over: CSK 116-5 (Negi 0, Bravo 2) target 193 Henriques is back for his fourth over and these two can’t get him away with 12 an over needed. Bravo’s single is all that results from a lovely over of varied pace. Time-out time.
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13th over: CSK 115-5 (Negi 0, Bravo 1) target 193 It’s fair to say the experiment of bringing Boult back early failed, so Warner turns to the medium pace of Ashish Reddy. A couple to cover for Dhoni, run very hard, before two in two balls end this as a contest.
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Wicket! Dhoni b Reddy
Game over. A slower one that sticks in the pitch. Dhoni goes back to it, the ball keeps low and he fails to get his bat down in time.
Hilarious run-out! Du Plessis 33
HA! A rank full-toss is driven back down the ground by Dhoni, but strikes Du Plessis right in the arm. The batsman is backing up and thinks he can still take the run. What he fails to realise though is that the ball has ricocheted off him, then the umpire, and landed in the hands of Reddy, who throws down the stumps!
12th over: CSK 110-3 (Du Plessis 32, Dhoni 17) target 193 Another change of bowling, Praveen Kumar is back. Both fine-leg and third man are up, so it’s full from him. It’s good, tight stuff. Four singles from the first four balls, then a big leg-side wide, then Du Plessis works it into the gap for a couple to cow corner. They could do with a boundary here, and get it as Du Plessis scoops over his shoulder and the ball beats the covering fielder to the long-leg boundary.
In the rugby, a wonderful Nick Abendanon try has pulled it back to Clermont 18-19 Toulon with 15 minutes to go.
11th over: CSK 99-3 (Du Plessis 24, Dhoni 15) target 193 Warner wants to go for the kill and brings Boult back. His first ball is driven nicely through mid-off for four by Dhoni. A single brings Du Plessis on strike and he likes the look of Boult, stepping back and driving a full ball over extra cover for a one-bounce four. The required run-rate is up above 10 and they’re not going at that, but this chase isn’t dead just yet. Three more singles and Boult now has 0-32 from his three overs.
10th over: CSK 87-3 (Du Plessis 18, Dhoni 9) target 193 Short from Henriques, slow too and Du Plessis rocks back and slaps it through mid-on for four. Two singles later, Faf fends at one and it leaps up off the shoulder of his bat, landing just, er, short of short third man.
9th over: CSK 81-3 (Du Plessis 13, Dhoni 8) target 193 Karn Sharma has a shout for LBW against Dhoni, but the batsman was miles forward and as such it was never going to be given. They take a leg-bye, before Faf plays a pair of scoops for two and then one. Dhoni back on strike and he fires a rocket back towards the bowler’s head, fortunately clearing it, and getting four runs. A single each to finish the over.
8th over: CSK 71-3 (Du Plessis 9, Dhoni 3) target 193 Henriques starts with a leg-side wide as he aims for the slower ball and gets his release all wrong. After a few singles, Raina goes and we take a mid-over time-out. MS Dhoni is the new man and he’s got a hell of a task on his hands now. Gets of the mark with an ungainly hook round the corner for two.
Wicket! Raina c Morgan b Henriques 23
Another batsman caught in the deep. He simply chips it down the ground to long-off.
7th over: CSK 64-2 (Du Plessis 7, Raina 22) target 193 Spin now with the leggie Karn Sharma. Four singles, then a full delivery is middled over long-on by Raina for six. The last ball brings a ludicrous LBW appeal from the bowler, given that Raina middled his forward defensive. Dear me.
6th over: CSK 54-2 (Du Plessis 5, Raina 14) target 193 The new bowler is Moises Henriques, who has one of the most pleasant names to say in world cricket. He gets rid of Smith first ball and Du Plessis comes in. I like Faf in Tests, but I reckon he’s horribly overrated in the shorter format. Overrated or not, he’s too good to miss out on a leg-stump half-volley, which he flicks to fine-leg for four. Couple more from the over – one to each batsman – in between which Morgan executes a fine diving stop at point off Raina.
Wicket! Smith c Vihari b Henriques 21
This is a really good catch. The top-edged slog-sweep off a slower ball goes miles into the air and Vihari, turning and running back, takes a good steepling catch at mid-wicket.
5th over: CSK 48-1 (Smith 21, Raina 13) target 193 A change of bowler and another Kumar – Praveen this time. Smith plays another one of those checked, lofted drives towards long-on; it’s not brilliantly timed this time though and it doesn’t clear the rope. Still, four. One more as Smith digs out a good, in-dipping yorker. Then the final ball is flicked high, off the pads at knee-height, by Raina for six over square-leg.
4th over: CSK 37-1 (Smith 16, Raina 7) target 193 Kumar continues and his first ball is on a length and clipped over mid-on for six by Raina. A single to give Smith the strike and he hits a brilliant checked drive over long-on for six more. A leading edge for one, plus a wide earlier in the over, make 15 from it.
3rd over: CSK 22-1 (Smith 9, Raina 0) target 193 Nice shot by Smith, chipping Boult over mid-on for four. He’s not quite middled it, but the timing is sweet enough. There is a mighty amount of swing from Boult as Hawkeye demonstrates; “Wonderful stuff from Hawkeye,” says Danny Morrison, shortly before being summarily executed by the BCCI*. A sharp lifter from Boult beats Smith’s outside edge, but the next one is too straight and gets hooked for four.
*Probably.
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2nd over: CSK 14-1 (Smith 2, Raina 0) target 193 From the other end it’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar. A couple of dots to Smith as the batsman can’t get him away, then a single brings McCullum on strike. He looked in the mood, in that first over, to repeat the century he made in Chennai when these two sides last met. He smears one to short cover where it’s brilliantly stopped to save four. Next ball sees the OBOers curse in all its glory as Bmac goes. Raina the new man.
If rugby is your thing, Toulon have taken the lead in the European Champions Cup final with a Mathieu Bastareaud try on the stroke of half-time. 16-11, there, as Halfpenny converts.
Wicket! McCullum b B Kumar 12
Huge wicket this as McCullum goes back to an inswinger on a good length and drags it back on to his off-peg.
1st over: CSK 13-0 (Smith 1, McCullum 12) target 193 Trent Boult has a huge shout for LBW first ball against Smith but it pitched on leg and swung miles down the leg-side. Not even close, it hit him eight inches outside and was moving in the wrong direction. An edge to third man gets the West Indian batsman off the mark, then the bowler drops short to his compatriot McCullium; it’s wide too and cut hard over point for four. Short again, straighter and pulled to fine-leg for another boundary. Final ball is, unsurprisingly, fuller, but gets thrashed over extra cover for four more.
Meanwhile it’s a bowlers’ day in the West Indies, reports John Ashdown.
Right, that’s a very decent total. The Sunrisers might be a little disappointed not to get to 200 after that start from Warner, but it will still take some chasing. It’s not like CSK have Brendon McCu- oh, right. Yeah this should be good.
End of innings
20th over: SRH 192-7 (Morgan 32) It’s Bravo to bowl the final over. Morgan gets one from the first ball, thanks to a thick inside-edge to mid-wicket, then gets the strike back when Vihari mistimes a hoick down to long-on for the same result. Bravo is getting his length perfect here, getting the yorkers in with the first three balls. The fourth isn’t too shabby at all, getting, as it does, the wicket. Karn Sharma in and he’s on strike for the penultimate ball. He swings wildly and feathers and inside-edge past the keeper for four to long-leg. Last ball and it’s a wicket.
Wicket! K Sharma c Jadeja b Bravo 4
Slog-sweep and caught on the mid-wicket boundary
Wicket! Vihari c Sub b Bravo 8
Backs away and opens the face, looking to play a deft cut, Vihari guides it straight into the hands of the sub fielder at gully.
19th over: SRH 185-5 (Morgan 30, Vihari 7) Morgan finally cuts loose, lifting Mohit Sharma miles back over long-on for a 104m six. So, you know, not actually miles, but you get the idea. Two from the next ball, then a wide one that Morgan opens the face to and drives over cover point for a one-bounce four. There’s a big appeal next ball as Morgan misses a bouncer; not given, but I reckon I heard a faint noise there as it went past the glove. Morgan goes for the slog-sweep next and is dropped by McCullum. It goes straight up and the Kiwi captain completely misjudges it on the edge of the circle, not even getting a finger on it as the ball drops at his feet.
Just for the record, The Guardian in no way condones violence. Such as, for example, punching Danny Morrison repeatedly in the face and then stealing his press pass so he can’t get anywhere near the commentary box.
Huh, don’t know why I just thought of that scenario.
18th over: SRH 170-5 (Morgan 17, Vihari 5) Dwayne Bravo is back into the attack and he starts with a long-hop that Reddy muscles over mid-wicket for four. That’s the end of his contribution though as he’s out-thought by Bravo. Three singles, then Vihari stands on his toes to reach a bouncer and tip it down to fine third man for four.
Wicket! Reddy c Dhoni b Bravo 6
This is a nice bit of bowling, a slow bouncer outside off. The batsman looks to run it down to third man but it takes the top edge, loops up in the air and Dhoni takes a routine catch.
17th over: SRH 159-4 (Morgan 15, Reddy 2) Back comes Nehra, the leading wicket-taker in this year’s competition and he adds his 15th of the season with the first ball. Ashish Reddy the new man. After a blistering start by the home side, this has been a good comeback from the bowlers. A single brings Morgan on strike and the England ODI captain – which he still is, for now – is struggling for fluency here. Great full bowling from Nehra and he takes 1-3 from it.
Wicket! Ohja b Nehra 20
From round the wicket, Nehra splatters the stumps as Ohja plays around it.
16th over: SRH 156-3 (Morgan 14, Ojha 20) More is back into the attack. He likes to take his sweet time between deliveries, but a fat lot of good it does him as Ohja clubs his second ball to cow corner for four. A wide and a dot later, Ohja gets one in the slot and hits an absolutely enormous shot over extra-cover into the second tier of the stand.
15th over: SRH 143-3 (Morgan 13, Ojha 9) Let’s try that again. The first ball back, the second of Mohit’s over, is edged through the vacant slip region by Ojha for four down to third man. And a repeat next ball as Ojha looks to clear mid-on. 200 is a real possibility here. A nicely timed push off the back-foot is brilliantly stopped by the sliding Bravo at mid-off to save three, then Morgan misses out with a big swish at one outside off. Single off the final ball.
The floodlight is half back on. This is a farce.
The players are off. They are “hopeful” they can restart. Eff’s effing sake.
15th over: SRH 133-3 (Morgan 12, Ojha 0) Hello! Thanks for that Niall. Damn rain delays; that was a pretty handy time-out, mind. Well this looks like it’s been entertaining and Morgan looks to continue the fun, hammering a pull out to square-leg but it’s cut off. And with that we have a delay as one of the floodlights packs in. I’ll level with you: I think I’m jinxed.
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14th over: SRH 132-3 (Morgan 11, Ojha 0)
Raina finishes with 1-29 – 12 of those coming from just two deliveries to Henriques. Ojha comes in – I wouldn’t bet on he or Morgan matching Warner’s strike rate, but they need to keep things moving. It doesn’t happen in this over, Bravo seeing it out for the loss of just one run. The batsmen are taking a (perhaps necessary) strategic timeout – time to hand you back over to Dan.
WICKET! Dhawan run out 37 (SRH 131-3, 13 overs)
Raina brings his spell to an end with another economical over, conceding just two runs. Dhawan and Morgan get ruffled, chasing a hugely ambitious second run from a Dhawan flick to deep midwicket. Jadeja fells the stumps from a distance, and Dhawan is gone! That’s three fairly shoddy dismissals from an otherwise impressive innings.
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12th over: SRH 128-2 (Dhawan 36, Morgan 9)
Eoin Morgan gets out of the way with a drilled single to long off, before Dhawan picks up another four from a wide Negi delivery. Next ball, Dhawan smacks a full delivery straight at Negi – but the bowler can’t reel it in, and it pops out of his grasp! That was a chance – and it’s Morgan who turns the screw, cracking the bowler back down the ground for a mighty six.
11th over: SRH 116-2 (Dhawan 30, Morgan 2)
Dhawan snatches his third boundary, and moves to 29 from 26 balls, with a cut beyond backward point. He’s lacked the firepower of Warner, or even Henriques, but he’s still at the crease, so there we have it. That’s the highlight of a tight over, with Raina mixing up his length to good effect.
WICKET! Henriques st Dhoni b Negi 19 (SRH 107-2)
That was fun while it lasted. Henriques races out of his crease one too many times, misses a push shot off Negi’s final ball of the over, and Dhoni takes care of business behind the stumps. It’s Eoin Morgan time...
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10th over: SRH 107-1 (Dhawan 24, Henriques 19)
Henriques, in the team thanks to Ashwin’s injury, is making his presence felt, lashing a one-bounce four through covers off Negi...
9th over: SRH 99-1 (Dhawan 22, Henriques 14)
Moises Henriques is next to the crease, and makes an immediate impact, skipping down the track and slapping a huge six off Raina. Two balls later, he repeats the trick, coming forward again and flicking over the leg side, all the way into the stands. File that start under ‘assured’.
WICKET! Warner c Smith b Raina 61 (SRH 86-1)
Ah, he’s gone. Raina gets rid of Warner with a leg-side delivery that Warner pulls to Smith at deep backward square leg. The captain’s start has put his team in an excellent position here, regardless.
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8th over: SRH 86-0 (Warner 61, Dhawan 22)
Dwayne Bravo is next into the attack. The question for SRH is whether the middle order can carry on the openers’ sterling work. Their partnership is almost ended in farcical fashion, as Dhawan nervously sends Warner back down the wicket – but the captain gets back to his crease in time. Dhawan then delivers a trademark leg-side flick for his second boundary of the day.
7th over: SRH 80-0 (Warner 59, Dhawan 15)
Suresh Raina comes in for the Super Kings, and his slower stylings have the desired effect, restricting Dhawan, and particularly Warner, to just four runs in a scrappy over, with neither batsman able to adjust to the change of pace.
6th over: SRH 76-0 (Warner 59, Dhawan 15)
OK, so it took a ball longer than I thought, but Warner gets his half-century in 20 balls, adjusting his body to swing a full delivery over the covers for yet another four. Guess what happens next – Nehra tries a short one, Warner cracks it down the ground for another. The bowler sees out the over in unconvincing fashion, leaking another six runs. Chennai need to stop the rot, and soon.
5th over: SRH 62-0 (Warner 48, Dhawan 13)
A change in the bowling attack, as Ronit More comes in for the shellshocked Mohit, who leaked 32 runs in his first two overs. Things don’t improve, with Warner pouncing on an inch of space outside his off-stump to cut the ball away for four more. Dhawan gets his first boundary on the board with another cover drive, before More serves up a short ball that Warner contemptuously swats away for a tenth boundary. 49 runs in the last three overs for the Sunrisers...
4th over: SRH 47-0 (Warner 38, Dhawan 8)
Dhawan, who has been positively cagey in comparison with Warner, gets in on the act with an expert cover drive, stopped at the rope by du Plessis. Three runs, and Warner is back at the crease. After wafting at a pull shot which rebounds over the stumps, the captain smacks Nehra away for two more fours, first straight down the ground, then wide of mid-on. Warner will make his half-century in the next over, at this rate.
3rd over: SRH 35-0 (Warner 29, Dhawan 5)
Warner strikes a third boundary off six balls, coming down the wicket to send another short ball from Mohit Sharma to the fence. The very next ball, Warner stands his ground before dispatching him for six. It’s a no ball, to boot. Two balls later, the Australian is at it again with a back-foot punch over mid off... and he completes Mohit’s embarrassment with a clipped shot that trickles through the field.
2nd over: SRH 14-0 (Warner 10, Dhawan 4)
Ashish Nehra comes in and gives first Dhawan, then Warner, something to think about with a pair of full-length, swinging deliveries. Warner and Dhawan purloin a run apiece, before Nehra gives his compatriot more grief, mixing his line and length for three dot balls, and a scratchy single to fine leg.
1st over: SRH 10-0 (Warner 9, Dhawan 1)
Post-coin toss, David Warner bullishly claimed he would have batted anyway on a firm, bouncy wicket. As if to underline his point, the Sunrisers’ captain smacks a short ball from Mohit to square leg for four, off the first ball. Warner follows up with a second boundary to finish the over, sending a fuller delivery through the covers.
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Coin toss and team news
Hello all, this is Niall stepping up gingerly to the crease while Dan oversees the conclusion of Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders. They’re ripping through a rain delayed, ten-over contest as we speak.
Anyway, CSK captain MS Dhoni has won the toss, and elected to bowl first. The teams have also just been announced, with Eoin Morgan coming in for Ravi Bopara for Hyderabad. You don’t want two English cricketers in one team. Chennai are unchanged.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: DA Warner (c), S Dhawan, NV Ojha (wk), GH Vihari, EJG Morgan, MC Henriques, A Ashish Reddy, KV Sharma, B Kumar, P Kumar, TA Boult.
Chennai Super Kings: BB McCullum, DR Smith, SK Raina, F du Plessis, DJ Bravo, RA Jadeja, MS Dhoni(c), P Negi, MM Sharma, A Nehra, RG More.
Play gets under way at 15.30 BST, 20.00 local time – fifteen minutes, basically.
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Preamble
Afternoon folks. This is another big one, right? Warner v McCullum, Steyn v Dhoni, Bopara v Jadeja, Eoin Morgan v Batting Technique? Well, no.
To have watched the Sunrisers this season is to be amazed that they’ve managed to win even three of their seven matches to date. Steyn didn’t make the squad for the first three and has been pretty disappointing since coming in, the limited overs international captain in their ranks can’t buy a run for franchise nor country and David Warner’s captaincy has been earnest, though his inexperience has shown.
The Super Kings, though are, well, super. They might have lost, surprisingly, to KKR last time around, but remain top, on net run rate, with two games in hand against the second-placed Rajasthan Royals. They also don’t seem to have any particular weaknesses.
On the face of it, this should be a thrashing. Then again I said the same of Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians yesterday and look how that turned out. This, I guess, is the joy of the tournament: predictions are a fool’s game.
Still, CSK by miles, for me. Play begins at 3.30pm BST, or 8pm local time. Toss and team news imminently, but here’s a neat little ditty to keep you entertained pre-match.
