SRH vs CSK, 41st Match at Chennai, IPL, Apr 23 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
41st Match (N), Chennai, April 23, 2019, Indian Premier League
(19.5/20 ov, T:176) 176/4

CSK won by 6 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)

Player Of The Match
96 (53)
shane-watson
Cricinfo's MVP
141.15 ptsImpact List
shane-watson
New
CSK
Full commentary

That's all from us tonight. Thanks for joining

Shane Watson is the man of the match: I was due runs, that's for sure. I can't thank Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni enough to have kept faith in me. In any other team, I may have been dropped sooner. Happy to repay that faith. I knew I was in good nick, just needed to get my head right, get my technique right, had a bit of luck by playing and missing in the beginning.

MS Dhoni: I think you can give individuals a few games. Watson has been a match winner for us so we need to back him and he has been batting well in the nets. If Watson gets going, you know what's on the plate. It started last year and it's good to see different individuals come good, the bowler's have done surprisingly well, the batting needs to click together. The back is holding up, it's not getting worse, with the World Cup coming up, can't afford that, because that's too important.

11.40pm Stay tuned for the presentation. Ankur will be here shortly to bring you that.

Harbhajan Singh: "It's always nice to go out there in the middle, unfortunately I missed a few games due to sickness. My whole family was sick, in fact. Nice to be back, and really happy with the result as well. We would have liked to finish the game in the 19th over itself, but the boys were just testing our hearts. Somehow we have the tendency to take it to the last over. As long as we're getting the result, we're fine. It's nice to see Shane Watson getting those runs under his belt. He's a serious player, last year he won us the final single-handedly, and this innings will boost his confidence. We always play well in Chennai, we know our conditions, and thanks to this beautiful crowd who come here to Chennai Super Kings. When teams come here, they have to play much better cricket than us to beat us."

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: "I think it was a par score, but there was a bit of dew on the wicket. And the way Watson was going, we couldn't do much. Anyone can have an off-day (speaking about Rashid), but it was the first off-day he had. Next three games out of four are away games, we really need to win those games to qualify for the playoffs. Captaincy gives me a lot of experience, it's helped me mature as a player."

11.34pm A comfortable win for Super Kings, with a tiny bit of a wobble towards the end. That wobble showed how well Watson was hitting it while scoring 96 off 53 balls. CSK are back on top of the table now.

19.5
1
Sandeep to Jadhav, 1 run

full on off stump, and there's a little bit of drama here but the winning run is eventually taken. Drives it powerfully towards mid-on, except it ends up hitting the non-striker's right foot as he jumps up to evade the ball. The ball ricochets towards the cover fielder, who sprints in, picks up, and underarms a throw at the non-striker's end and hits the stumps direct, but Jadhav was safely home by then

One run to get, two balls to go, and the batsmen have crossed so it'll be Jadhav on strike. Bravo's walked in ahead of Dhoni.

19.4
W
Sandeep to Rayudu, OUT

bouncer over off stump, and Rayudu's fallen with the scores tied! Opens up and looks to pull, but it's a hard one to drag from over his right shoulder, and he ends up miscuing it high, offers a simple catch to Vijay Shankar at mid-off. Vijay Shankar catching Rayudu's just what this match needed, I suppose!

Ambati Rayudu c Shankar b Sandeep Sharma 21 (25b 1x4 0x6 49m) SR: 84

Scores are level now.

19.3
1
Sandeep to Jadhav, 1 run

shuffles down the pitch, drives this full one outside off firmly to mid-off, who's stationed deep enough to permit a straightforward single

19.2
6
Sandeep to Jadhav, SIX runs

wow, that's another brilliant stop at the boundary from Manish Pandey. Or is it? Jumped down the pitch and turned this ball into a full-toss on the legs. Flicked it and timed it very well, well enough to clear the boundary to the right of deep midwicket. But Pandey, running to his right and jumping past the rope, pulls it back with one hand. But replays show his foot landed before he could paddle the ball back, and that will be six

19.1
1
Sandeep to Rayudu, 1 run

full, angling into leg stump, flicked to short fine leg. If he'd placed that better he might have got four

Well, well. Only seven off the last two overs, and no boundaries. CSK need nine now. Who'll bowl the last over? Sandeep's the only frontline bowler with any overs left, and here he is.

end of over 194 runs
CSK: 167/3CRR: 8.78 RRR: 9.00
Kedar Jadhav3 (7b)
Ambati Rayudu20 (23b 1x4)
Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-26-0
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-1-18-1
18.6
Khaleel Ahmed to Jadhav, no run

slower bouncer angling in towards off stump. Jadhav gets into a tangle as he looks to make room and ramp it over the keeper. Can't connect

Just like the Sunrisers innings, the batsmen have found it harder to find the boundary off the seamers when the ball's become older. Except for Watson, that is.

18.5
1
Khaleel Ahmed to Rayudu, 1 run

length ball, another slower cutter, on off stump. Makes room and punches to deep point

18.4
1lb
Khaleel Ahmed to Jadhav, 1 leg bye

back of a length, angling in towards Jadhav's hip, cramping him for room. Plays an awkward pull-flick and misses, gets a leg bye off his thigh pad

Satya: "Tactical error by SRH leaving out Nadeem instead Sandeep."

18.3
1
Khaleel Ahmed to Rayudu, 1 run

wide of the crease, bowls this shortish cutter outside off. Makes room and slaps to deep point

18.2
1
Khaleel Ahmed to Jadhav, 1 run

angles into the pads now and he clips it to long leg

18.1
Khaleel Ahmed to Jadhav, no run

offcutter, back of a length, really digs it into the pitch outside off and gets it to rise steeply. Jadhav is half-forward, looking to steer it behind point, and he aborts his shot as the ball climbs at him

Only three off that over, and the wicket of Watson. Has Bhuvneshwar shifted a tiny bit of pressure back onto Super Kings? Here's Khaleel, round the wicket.

end of over 183 runs • 1 wicket
CSK: 163/3CRR: 9.05 RRR: 6.50
Ambati Rayudu18 (21b 1x4)
Kedar Jadhav2 (3b)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-1-18-1
Khaleel Ahmed 3-0-23-0
17.6
Bhuvneshwar to Rayudu, no run

looks to step out and make room and Bhuvneshwar cramps him again, angling a shortish offcutter towards leg stump. Flat-bats it back to the bowler

17.5
1
Bhuvneshwar to Jadhav, 1 run

full, angling into leg stump. Saw Jadhav shaping to make room. Pushed to the left of cover

17.4
1lb
Bhuvneshwar to Rayudu, 1 leg bye

jumps out of his crease and Bhuvneshwar tucks him up with a slower short one at his hip. Looks to flick, only manages a bit of thigh pad into the leg side

17.3
1
Bhuvneshwar to Jadhav, 1 run

back of a length outside off, chopped away to the left of deep point

17.2
Bhuvneshwar to Jadhav, no run

back of a length close to off stump, shuffles across to clip to midwicket

Here's Jadhav.

17.1
W
Bhuvneshwar to Watson, OUT

bouncer, rises over Watson's right shoulder. Looks to hook, and doesn't catch it cleanly. There's an appeal for caught-behind from Bhuvneshwar, and it's finally given. Tiny bit of glove on it, and Watson falls four short of what would have been a repeat of his hundred in last year's final. Fantastic knock - he took his time early on, but once he was in, there was no stopping him. Great catch from Bairstow, by the way, diving to his left and completing it with a tumble

Shane Watson c †Bairstow b Kumar 96 (53b 9x4 6x6 91m) SR: 181.13

Update: Rayudu has joined Watson in that 40-balls-no-dismissals-against-Rashid club. Basically, the two most invincible batsmen against Rashid are in the middle together.

Abhishek: "I sent a message at start of this innings about why MSD is such a great captain. So happy to be proven correct. It's because he backs he players in their bad times. Everyone was baying for his blood and Shane Watson delivers the goods. No team like CSK. No captain like MS."

end of over 1710 runs
CSK: 160/2CRR: 9.41 RRR: 5.33
Ambati Rayudu18 (19b 1x4)
Shane Watson96 (52b 9x4 6x6)
Khaleel Ahmed 3-0-23-0
Rashid Khan 4-0-44-1
16.6
2
Khaleel Ahmed to Rayudu, 2 runs

slower length ball outside off, Rayudu slices it in the air, with an open face, to the left of deep point

16.5
Khaleel Ahmed to Rayudu, no run

full on off stump, driven to extra-cover

16.4
Khaleel Ahmed to Rayudu, no run

slower ball, fairly full, on off stump. No real front-foot stride as Rayudu looks to compensate with his wrists and drive through cover. Ends up sending a leading edge towards backward point

Win Probability
CSK 100%
SRHCSK
100%50%100%SRH InningsCSK Innings

Over 20 • CSK 176/4

Ambati Rayudu c Shankar b Sandeep Sharma 21 (25b 1x4 0x6 49m) SR: 84
W
CSK won by 6 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)
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Indian Premier League

TEAMMWLPTNRR
MI1495180.421
CSK1495180.131
DC1495180.044
SRH1468120.577
KKR1468120.028
KXIP146812-0.251
RR145811-0.449
RCB145811-0.607