Chennai's senior pro outsmarts Hyderabad to put comeback team in Indian Premier League-11 final
Chennai's Faf du Plessis during his 67* yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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Despite Rashid Khan (4-0-11-2) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3.1-0-14-1) having an economy rate under five-runs per over, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) still ended up losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the third time in this Indian Premier League yesterday. SRH coach Tom Moody's extra efforts on the eve of the match to train Carlos Braithwaite (29-ball 43) harder for the slog overs bore fruits yesterday when the 2016 World T20 final hero resurrected Sunrisers Hyderabad from a hopeless situation.
SRH await Eden result
SRH can still make the final as they await the winner of today's Eliminator between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens. The Orange Army had two-time champions on the ropes before Faf du Plessis' unbeaten 67 off 42 balls and Shardul Thakur's five-ball 15 cameo helped CSK clinch a thriller as they chased down the 140-run target to win the Qualifier 1 by two wickets and enter their seventh IPL final.
SRH bowlers threatened to do a repeat of what they did against Kings XI Punjab (defending 132), Royal Challengers Bangalore (defending 146) and against Mumbai Indians (defending 118 at the same venue) in this IPL after reducing CSK to 24-3 in four overs. Like CSK, Sunrisers too struck in the first over with Bhuvneshwar sending Shane Watson for a duck on the fifth ball. Siddarth Kaul then had last match's half centurion Suresh Raina and CSK's top run-getter Ambati Rayudu on consecutive balls, leaving the pacer and SRH camp pumped up.
Super Rashid stuns MSD
The big moment arrived when Rashid flummoxed CSK skipper MS Dhoni (9 off 18 balls) with a wrong 'un to disrupt his furniture, leaving scores of Dhoni fans stunned. When the Afghan leggie had Dwayne Bravo (7) caught at slip in his next over, SRH knew the game was as good as over with CSK reduced to 61-5 in 12 overs. With seven wickets already down before reaching the three-figure mark, CSK's last hope was Du Plessis. With 43 required off the last three overs, Du Plessis took 20 runs off Braithwaite's 18th over which included three boundaries and a six. Shardul too came to the party with two consecutive boundaries, thanks to lucky inside edges and a last-ball boundary to take 17 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Kaul. Du Plessis completed the formalities with a six off the first ball in the last over off Bhuvneshwar to kick off celebrations in the CSK camp.
Also Read: T20 2018: Chennai Pip Hyderabad To Make Their Seventh Twenty20 Final
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