Live Report - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2021, Sharjah

CSK qualify for playoffs, Sunrisers eliminated

9.35pm

Super Kings become the first team to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2021, with a thumping win over Sunrisers. They now have 18 points from 11 games. Their win also means that Sunrisers are now eliminated.

Towards the end of the chase, Sunrisers managed to bring it down to 20 required from 14. That's when they had their best chance but Siddarth Kaul erred and ended up bowling an overpitched delivery outside off. Rayudu freed his arms and smashed it over extra cover for four. And just like that, all the pressure was released.

In the next over, Rayudu launched Bhuvneshwar over long-on for six to make it nine required from ten balls. Super Kings were not going to lose from there.

Still, Siddarth Kaul, bowling the final over, brought it down two needed from three balls. But then he bowled right in the slot for Dhoni, who rolled the clock back and smashed it over long-on for a massive six.

That's all from my side for tonight. You can catch the post-match presentation on our ball-by-ball commentary. You will find the link for that at the top of this page.

A bit of wobble towards the end

9.10pm

Rashid Khan bowled three dots to Moeen Ali before the batter tried to pull one away which was hurrying towards him. Moeen got an inside edge on his body and the ball bounced onto the stumps.

In the next over, Holder greeted Raina with a bouncer and then trapped him lbw with a fuller one. Two balls later, du Plessis miscued a pull and was caught at short midwicket. Three wickets in eight balls. Super Kings require another 26 from 24 with Dhoni and Rayudu in the middle.

du Plessis, Moeen take Super Kings past 100

8.55pm

Gaikwad fell five short of his fifty when he failed to clear mid-off against Jason Holder. But Moeen Ali ensured runs kept coming easily. Moeen struggles against short balls at times and Holder went for one. But the slowness of the pitch meant the ball sat up perfectly for Moeen to pull it for four. Two overs later, he pulled Rashid Khan to deep midwicket for another four.

Super Kings galloping towards that playoff spot, and Sunrisers staring at elimination.

du Plessis-Gaikwad go past Shaw-Dhawan

8.35pm

Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad are now the most successful opening pair in IPL 2021. These two have added 584 so far, with two century stands and four half-century stands.

Gaikwad gives Super Kings brisk start

8.20pm

When you are defending a small target, you need early wickets. If you fail to do that and the opposition manage a brisk start, that's half the game lost.

Sunrisers started well, conceding only 12 from the first three overs. Gaikwad and du Plessis then clubbed a six each off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the fourth over. In the next over, du Plessis hit Holder for two more fours.

Rashid Khan generally doesn't bowl in the powerplay but Kane Williamson knew he was running out of time. He brought the legspinner in the sixth over but Gaikwad went after him straightaway. After top-edging a sweep for four, he skipped down the ground and launched Rashid for a straight six.

Gaurav Sundararaman tells me that Gaikwad has taken 32 off 15 balls against Rashid in T20 cricket; 26 of those have come in boundaries.

Hazlewood strikes restrict Sunrisers to below-par 134

7.40pm

Abhishek hit Josh Hazlewood over extra cover for a six but fell on the very next ball, chipping it to Faf du Plessis at long-on. Two balls later, Hazlewood bowled one full and wide outside off, the longer boundary was on that side, and Samad could slice that only to Moeen at backward point.

From the other end, Bravo kept a lid on the scoring rate. He conceded only five and four from the 16th and 18th over respectively and finished with 2 for 17 from his four overs.

Sunrisers eventually finished with 134 for 7, thanks to 19 runs from the last two overs, but even on this slow, low, sluggish pitch that looks below par.

Another failure for Garg

6.55pm

There were times last season when Priyam Garg came to the crease with not many overs left. There was just one option in front of him: go for quick runs. But tonight, he had all the time to get his eye in and score some vital runs for his side.

Dealing exclusively in singles, Garg moved to seven off nine balls when he went for a pull against Bravo, only to top-edge it. Dhoni moved to his left and closed his gloves around the skier.

Saha was lucky to be still there. He was caught at backward point in the ninth over but Shardul Thakur had overstepped. But he too perished to a pull, top-edging Ravindra Jadeja in the 11th over to give Dhoni his third catch of the night. Saha departs for 44 off 46.

Sunrisers are now looking towards Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad to take them to a par total, which I think is 150-160 on this surface. ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster, though, is giving them 140.

Roy, Williamson fall cheaply

6.30pm

Jason Roy was the main architect of Sunrisers' victory in their last game, against Rajasthan Royals, scoring 60 off 42 balls. But there is no repeat as Josh Hazelwood removes him for only 2.

Williamson and Saha took Sunrisers to 41 for 1 at the end of the powerplay but Dwayne Bravo dealt them another blow, trapping Williamson lbw with a floater that seemed to move away at the last moment. New batter Priyam Garg, who was India's captain at the last Under-19 World Cup, was out for a first-ball duck in the last game. He has another chance to show his mettle.

Chahar finds movement but Saha makes a move too

6.10pm

Ask Cricinfo tells me Deepak Chahar has the most wickets in the powerplay this season. Here, he once again finds the movement with the new ball, taking the ball away from Wriddhiman Saha. There is a slip waiting too for a potential edge. On the fourth ball of the over, Saha chases an awaygoing delivery with little footwork. He fails to keep it down but it's away from the backward-point fielder. Saha off the mark with a couple.

On the first ball of Chahar's next over, Saha attempts an aerial shot down the ground but is beaten as the ball swings away. Dhoni collects it almost on the second bounce. Chahar bowls the next ball a touch closer, perhaps an inswinger. But it's a touch shorter in length and that's enough for Saha to bring out the pull shot and send it over deep midwicket.

Two balls later, Chahar errs on the fuller side and Saha just creams it over long-off for the second six of the over.

Bravo returns as Super Kings opt to bowl

5.35pm

MS Dhoni has won the toss and Super Kings will be bowling first. Dwayne Bravo comes back for Sam Curran. Bravo has the best economy rate in the death overs this season (min. 30 balls), and his slower deliveries could be effective in Sharjah where, unlike the last season, the ball has been gripping a lot.

Sunrisers, on the other hand, are unchanged. That means the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg get another chance.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Priyam Garg, 5 Abhishek Sharma, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Siddarth Kaul, 11 Sandeep Sharma

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Josh Hazlewood

No. 1 vs No. 8

5.10pm

Hello and a very warm welcome. Tonight is a contest between two sides at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Chennai Super Kings have eight wins and two defeats from ten games, and are sitting at the top of the points table. Another win and they will be through to the playoffs. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, have two wins and eight defeats. They are at the bottom of the points table. A defeat here and they will be out of the race for the playoffs too. But can an almost nothing-to-lose situation work in their favour? We will find out soon.