Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], April 6 (ANI): Following his side’s six-wicket win over five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins lauded young all-rounder Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head for their batting performances, saying he would not like to bowl to them because of how well they were batting.
Chennai Super Kings suffered their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, after Abhishek Sharma’s blitz and a clinical bowling spell guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to a six-wicket victory on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Following the match, Cummins said during the post-match presentation, “Different soil, slowed up as the game went on. It was still a fantastic game. We have got plenty of fast bowlers. Shivam (Dube) was hitting the spinners. So we took a chance with the fast bowlers bowling cutters. I would not be wanting to be bowling to him (Abhishek Sharma) and (Travis) Head. The crowd was crazy tonight, especially when MS (Dhoni) walked out. We love playing here, home conditions.”
Coming to the match, SRH won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rachin Ravindra (12) and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (26 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) got out early, leaving CSK at 54/2 in 7.1 overs.
Then knocks from Shivam Dube (45 in 24 balls, with two fours and four boundaries), Ravindra Jadeja (31 in 23 balls, with fours boundaries) and Ajinkya Rahane (35 in 30 balls, with two fours and six) took CSK to 165/5 in their 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/28), T Natarajan (1/39), skipper Cummins (1/29) and Jaydev Unadkat (1/29) were among the wickets for SRH.
In the run-chase, Travis Head (31 in 24 balls, with three fours and a six) and Abhishek Sharma (37 in 12 balls, with three fours and four sixes) started well, taking SRH to 106 in 9.4 overs. Aiden Markram scored a brilliant half-century (50 in 36 balls, with four boundaries and a six). Heinrich Klaasen (10*) and Nitish Reddy (11*) took SRH to a six-wicket win.
Moeen Ali (2/23) was the pick of the bowlers for CSK. Deepak Chahar and Maheesh Theekshana got a wicket too.
Abhishek’s explosive knock earned him the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
SRH has climbed to the fifth spot with two wins and two losses in four games, giving them four points. With the same win-loss ratio, CSK is in the third spot with four points due to a better run rate. (ANI)
