Dubai, Oct 13 (UNI) Fighting knocks by Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu guided Chennai Super Kings to a competitive total of 167/6 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 29th match of the IPL 2020, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.
Watson scored 42 off 38 while Rayud scored 41 off 34. Sam Curran (31 off 21), MS Dhoni ( 21 off 13) and Ravindra Jadeja (25 not out off 10) also made valuable contributions with the bat.
After winning toss and opting to bat first, CSK were off to a poor start as openers Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran departed inside the first-5 overs with Sandeep Sharma sending back both batsmen.
Faf recorded his first duck in 6 years while Curran made a quickfire 21-ball 31 before heading back to the dressing room.
However, Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu batted sensibly and did the rescue work for CSK. The pair looked in good touch and took CSK to 69-2 after the 10 overs.
Khaleel Ahmed broke the 81-run stand between Watson and Rayudu as the latter was dismissed on 41 from 34 deliveries.
After spending substantial time in the middle, Watson looked to switch gears but he also got out after scoring 42 off 38 balls .
The duo's dismissals in rather quick succession did help SRH to pull things back but cameos from Dhoni and Jadeja ensured that CSK got past the 165-run mark.
From there on captain MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja had the responsibility to finish big for CSK.
MS Dhoni played an important cameo of 22 off 13 balls before he was caught by Kane Williamson in T Natarjan’s over.
In the end, some late carnage from Jadeja helped CSK reach 167/6 after 20 overs.
CSK managed 51 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the final 5 overs including 15 in the final one bowled by Khaleed Ahmed, who got smashed for a 6 and a 4 by Ravindra Jadeja.
Sandeep Sharma was the best of the lot for SRH among the bowlers with 2 for 19 while Khaleel Ahmed and and T Natarajan also bagged a couple of scalps each.
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