IPL 2021: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad help CSK gun down 172, hammer SRH to regain top spot

Chennai Super Kings are looking unstoppable in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. After winning 4 on the bounce in Mumbai, the former champions began their Delhi leg of the season with an emphatic 7-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 23 on Wednesday and stretched their winning run to 5 matches.

With the dominant win, Chennai Super Kings returned to the top of the IPL 2021 points table, edging ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore who sealed a 1-run win in a last-over thriller against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.

IPL 2021, CSK vs SRH: Highlights

Chennai Super Kings rode on a top-class opening stand from Ruturaj Gaikwad (44-ball 75) and Faf du Plessis (38-ball 56) as they gunned down a 172-run target at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi with relative ease. The duo who toyed with the Sunrisers bowling attack with their wide range of strokes added 129 runs for the opening stand in just 13 overs to put the chase to bed.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was backed by the CSK management despite a string of low scores at the start of the tournament, hit his 5th fifty, oozing class. Ruturaj attacked the pacers and spinners with equal ease. He did not bulldoze the bowling attack but kept finding gaps and kept timing them perfectly to frustrate David Warner & Co.

All Over: In the first game of #IPL2021 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, @ChennaiIPL emerge victorious by 7 wickets as they outplay #SRH in all three departments of the game. https://t.co/dvbR7X1Kzc #VIVOIPL #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/JVa1vxhUg8

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 28, 2021

Ruturaj started slowly, allowing du Plessis to take charge but the young opener grew in confidence to take Chennai closer to the finish line. Ruturaj could have got to 3-figures but he was undone by a Rashid Khan ripper. The Afghanistan leg-spinner picked up 3 wickets but it was not enough as he did not find any support from the rest of the Sunrisers bowlers.

du Plessis, who has been a rock at the top of the order for CSK, hit his 3rd successive fifty as Chennai are proving to be a well-oiled machine in IPL 2021. CSK lost du Plessis and comeback man Moeen Ali in quick succession but there was nothing much left to do for Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina who got the 3-time champions past the finish line with 15 balls to spare.

David Warner’s sluggish fifty cost Sunrisers?

Earlier in the day, Chennai Super Kings came up with a fine effort on the field, saving crucial runs despite starting the innings with a dropped catch. Jonny Bairstow failed to make full use of the reprieve as he fell to Sam Curran for 7 in the powerplay.

David Warner, who won the toss and surprisingly opted to bat on a dewy evening in Delhi, struggled to get going with the bat.

Warner hit 57, thereby becoming the first man to hit 50 fifties in the IPL, but he took 55 balls tor it, slowing the scoring rate through the innings. Warner cut a frustrated figure as he grunted and groaned after failing to connect quite a few.

Manish Pandey, who returned to the XI after having been dropped for a couple of games, hit a 46-ball 61 while batting at No. 3. However, both Pandey and Warner fell in the same over bowled by Lungi Ngidi.

Did Kane Williamson come in too late?

At one point, Sunrisers looked like they would struggle to get past 150 despite a 106-run stand between Warner and Pandey but Kane Williamson hit a 10-ball 26 after coming into bat in the 18th over. Kedar Jadhav hit a 4-ball 12, including a last-ball 6, to help Sunrisers push their total to 171 against his former franchise.

David Warner would rue a couple of his decisions on Wednesday as they remain rooted to the last spot with just 1 win from 6 matches — opting to bat and holding back Williamson at No. 4. Time is running out and Sunrisers can’t afford to make any more such mistakes.