The old and the young in veteran Ambati Rayudu, 32, and pacer Deepak Chahar, 25, combined forces to hand Chennai their fourth win of the season
Chennai's Ambati Rayudu during his 37-ball 79 yesterday. Pic/PTI
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The moth eaten adage that age is merely a number could not have been truer for Chennai, who galloped to the top of the points table with a wafer-thin four-run victory over Hyderabad here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium yesterday. The old and the young in veteran Ambati Rayudu, 32, and pacer Deepak Chahar, 25, combined forces to hand Chennai their fourth win of the season.
Chahar, who broke the back of the Hyderabad chase with three prized scalps in the power-play later went on to attribute Chennai's success in tight finishes to the experience in the squad.
Chennai's Chahar (left) and Raina celebrate a Hyderabad wicket
Experience is vital: Chahar
He said: "As I've said before, age is just a number. Experience is an important byproduct that comes with age, which has come to through for us lately. In tight matches, experience is vital. We have benefited from the experience in our squad in close matches."
The match followed an eerily similar script in both innings as both teams struggled to get going in the power-play but made dramatic recoveries in the second half of their respective innings. Chennai, largely through Rayudu's counter-attacking 79 off just 37 balls did better as they lost fewer wickets. Rayudu, who was moved to No.4 to accommodate Faf du Plessis at the top was ably supported by Suresh Raina, who looked all at sea against the Hyderabad pacers but fought his way to an unbeaten 54.
Not the ideal start for Hyderabad
Hyderabad were rocked early by Chahar in pursuit of a seemingly improbable target of 183, especially given the fact that their 148 for nine against Mumbai recently had been the highest successful chase at the venue for the last three seasons. Kane Williamson (84) and Yusuf Pathan (45) kept the home team in the hunt with a 79-run sixth-wicket stand that came off just 45 balls. But their dismissals within five balls of each other meant that the lower order, despite Rashid Khan's 4-ball 17, was left with too stiff a task at hand.
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