Chennai, April 28 (IANS): Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad fell two runs short of becoming the second batter to hit back-to-back IPL centuries, while Daryl Mitchell got his maiden fifty in the tournament as Chennai Super Kings posted 212/3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday evening.
Gaikwad was solid in hitting 10 fours and three sixes at a strike-rate of 181.48 in his 54-ball knock. Mitchell finally came good after a lean start to the tournament by smashing seven fours and a six in his 32-ball stay at the crease, apart from sharing a 107-run stand with Gaikwad.
Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 20-ball 39, laced with four sixes and a boundary was also helpful in CSK going past 200 on consecutive occasions. Pushed into batting first, CSK had a cautious start as they hit only two boundaries in 2.1 overs.
Ajinkya Rahane’s poor run continued as he miscued to mid-wicket off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Gaikwad and Mitchell hit six boundaries between themselves in the rest of the Power-play as CSK ended the phase at 50/1.
Mitchell finally hit CSK’s first six of the innings by lofting Cummins over long-off for six, followed by Gaikwad getting his fifty in 27 balls pulling the pacer for a maximum over deep mid-wicket fence. Mitchell upped his scoring version by driving, slicing, paddling, lofting and scooping to get his fifty off 29 balls.
But Mitchell fell soon after, falling for 52 off 32 balls after hitting a full toss from Jaydev Unadkat straight to deep mid-wicket. Gaikwad went for hitting boundaries off slower deliveries and low-full tosses and got ample support from Shivam Dube, who smashed three sixes with his ferocious power and long levers.
But Gaikwad struggled to find timing in the fag end of his innings and miscued a loft to deep mid-wicket off Natarajan in the final over. A four for M.S. Dhoni and Dube flicking high over deep mid-wicket for six ensured CSK crossed 210, though they got only 20 runs in the last two overs.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 212/3 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 98, Daryl Mitchell 52; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-38, Jaydev Unadkat 1-38) against Sunrisers Hyderabad