IPL 2018 Report Card: CSK's Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina shine; Rashid Khan, Manish Pandey flop for SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad fans suffered a heart break at their home ground on Sunday as their home team lost by a narrow margin of 4 runs to the Chennai Super Kings. The home team started the match well claiming both the Super Kings openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plesis quite early in the innings.

However, Ambatu Rayudu and Suresh Raina made a remarkable recovery after that and skipper MS Dhoni provided the flourish at the end to propel Super Kings’  score to 182/3 in their 20 overs.

The Sunrisers didn’t get off to the best of starts as they lost three early wickets as a result of an inspired spell of swing bowling from Deepak Chahar. Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan tried their best after that to lead their team to victory but their efforts didn’t prove to be enough in the end.

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[caption id=“attachment_4441829” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu starred for Chennai Super Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Image Courtesy: SportsPicz[/caption]

Here is how all the 22 players fared in this match.

Deepak Chahar - 10/10

The 25-year old Deepak Chahar broke the back of the Sunrisers batting line-up with his triple strike. He bowled a wicket maiden first up which consisted the wicket of Ricky Bhui and then returned in his second over once again to claim the wicket of Manish Pandey giving away just a solitary run. He picked up his final scalp Deepak Hooda in his third over and thus ended up with impressive bowling figures of 4-1-15-3.

Ambati Rayudu - 10/10

Ambati Rayudu had shown good form batting at top of the order for the Super Kings so far but he was getting dismissed after getting off to good starts. However, he turned it into a big one on Sunday after he returned to his familiar No 4 spot. He seemed like batting on a different deck as he played his shots fluently whereas other batsmen struggled to score freely. He blasted his way to a knock of 79 runs off just 37 deliveries, that included 9 fours and 4 sixes, before returning back to the pavilion as a result of a silly run out.

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Suresh Raina - 10/10

Raina’s innings might not have been as explosive as Rayudu’s but he played the role of the mature partner in that crucial partnership of 112 runs for the fourth wicket with Rayudu.  He scored 54 runs off 43 deliveries at a strike rate of 125.58 and more importantly he anchored the innings till the last delivery.

Kane Williamson - 10/10

Williamson played one of the best T20 knocks in his career on Sunday as he kept the Sunrisers in the chase almost single-handedly during the major part of their innings. He played a mesmerizing 51-ball knock of 84 runs which was halted by Dwayne Bravo’s bowling on the last delivery of the 18th over.

Yusuf Pathan- 9/10

Pathan stitched a crucial 79-run stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Williamson and kept the Sunrisers in the hunt for victory. His innings of 45 runs off 27 deliveries was one of his best in recent times and it almost took them to the cusp of victory.

MS Dhoni -  8/10

MS Dhoni hasn’t been as good a finisher for his teams in recent times as he used to be during his younger days. However, he turned back the clock once again as he played another typical finisher’s knock for Chennai. Walking out to bat at number five in the 17th over, Dhoni helped himself to a superb knock 25 runs off just 12 deliveries, thus propelling his team’s score to 182/3.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 7/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled his heart out once again as he claimed the all-important wicket of Shane Watson early on in the innings. He finished up with bowling figures of 3-0-22-1 and was surprisingly not summoned to bowl his last over.

Shakib Al Hasan - 6/10

Shakib Al Hasan made impressive starts with both bat and ball. He bowled his first two overs for just 9 runs in the batting powerplay but leaked 23 runs in the next two overs towards the death. With the bat he played some breathtaking upper cuts and hooks but perished to a soft dismissal off Karn Sharma’s bowling for a 19-ball knock of 24.

Ravindra Jadeja - 6/10

Jadeja bowled an economical spell of 4-0-28-0 in a high scoring thriller that went down to the wire. He bowled tight line and lengths and didn’t give the batsmen any room to free their arms.

Siddharth Kaul - 5/10

Siddharth Kaul bowled his usual back of the length line again but Rayudu and Raina’s sublime touch with the bat rendered him ineffective. He bowled decently but wasn’t successful in picking up wickets, thus ending up with a spell of 4-0-33-0.

Dwayne Bravo - 5/10

Although he got smashed away for 37 runs in his three overs, he was the one who made the difference with his Yorkers at the right time. Moreover, the wicket of Williamson in the 18th over changed the course of the match altogether.

Karn Sharma - 5/10

Karn Sharma did almost everything right in the field. He took a very well judged catch to dismiss Manish Pandey and then got the crucial breakthrough in the form of Shakib. However, he was taken to the cleaners in his third over by Williamson as the kiwi batsman took him for 22 runs.

Rashid Khan - 4/10

Rashid Khan began well with the wicket of Du Plesis on his very first delivery. However, he was thrashed all around the park later on by Rayudu and Raina. He gave away crucial 49 runs in his four overs despite having a wicket to his name. However, he lit up the match with his superb striking in the last seven balls of the innings as he blasted two sixes and a four to keep them in the hunt till the very last ball.

Shardul Thakur - 3/10

Shardul Thakur conceded 45 runs in his four overs but picked up the all important wicket of Pathan towards the end and thus ended the Sunrisers’  chances of victory.

Billy Stanlake - 2/10

‘Big Billy’ was impressive during his initial spell when the ball was swinging and extracting bite off the pitch. However, he found himself caught in the midst of Rayudu storm later on. He ended up with expensive returns of 4-0-38-0.

Faf du Plesis - 2/10

The South African batsman didn’t have the best of outings after coming back from injury. Returning to his preferred opening spot for the Super Kings, du Plesis struggled to get going against some top class bowling from the Sunrisers. He perished to the wrist spin of Rashid Khan after a 13-ball struggle for 11 runs.

Shane Watson - 1/10

Shane Watson followed up his superb all-round performance in the previous match with a super flop show this time. He took 15 deliveries to score just 9 runs opening the innings and later conceded 23 runs in two overs with the ball at an economy rate of 11.50.

Deepak Hooda - 1/10

Deepak Hooda bowled just one over for eight runs and then failed to contribute with the bat when he was sent ahead of Shakib and Pathan at No 4. His seven-ball struggle for a solitary run was ended by Chahar.

Ricky Bhui - 1/10

Ricky Bhui failed miserably in his first match of the season for the Sunrisers. He was out caught in the slips by Watson off Chahar’s bowling for a duck on the fifth delivery of the first over.

Manish Pandey - 1/10

Manish Pandey followed up his fifty in the previous match with a duck this time as he played an upper cut straight to the hands of Karn Sharma at third man off Chahar’s bowling.

Sam Billings - NA

It would be unfair to rate him just on the basis of his fielding. He didn’t get a chance to bat but was superb with his ground fielding.

Wriddhiman Saha - NA

Rating him will be unfair as well. He kept well effecting a superb stumping to dismiss du Plesis. However, he got only five deliveries to bat and scored just five runs.

Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor