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There was a little outside chance for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to qualify for the playoffs before the game while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were eyeing to cement their playoff berth. CSK continued their winning run in the second phase of IPL 2021 and became the first team to qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, it was same old story for SRH. Things again didn’t go as planned for SRH as they suffered a six-wicket defeat to CSK. With this defeat, SRH are officially out of the playoffs race and there is no permutation/combination that can work for them now.
CSK showed the world that the 2020 season was an aberration and they are still a champion side. On a hot evening in Sharjah, CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and invited SRH to bat first. SRH batters couldn’t do much and managed to post a total of 134 for the loss of 7 wickets.
CS batters take it deep
Chasing a small target of 135, their opening pair once again gave them a good start. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis gave a solid start to the run chase before the youngster departed after scoring 45 runs off 38 balls. Next came Moeen Ali to partner with Faf and both added another 38 runs to the chase. Moeen couldn’t finish the game and was bowled by Rashid for 17. Next came Suresh Raina, but he too was dismissed quickly by Holder for just 2 runs. The Proteas batter too followed him back to the pavilion as CSK suffered a mini batting collapse. With 27 runs needed off 25 balls, there was a small twist in the match as Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu played a few dot deliveries. CSK needed 22 runs off 18 balls and SRH tried their best to put pressure on the CSK batters. But Rayudu and Dhoni held their nerves to finish the match with two balls to spare. Dhoni, in his vintage-style, finished the match with a humongous six brushing his finishing skills before the playoffs.
Batting again is a problem for SRH
Batting has been a big problem for SRH throughout this tournament. After being asked to bat first, SRH couldn’t start their innings well losing opener Jason Roy in the powerplay overs. The skipper too couldn’t do well and fell to in-form Dwayne Bravo after scoring only 11 runs. Saha on the other hand tried to anchor the innings and was accompanied by youngster Priyam Garg. The youngster once again failed to make use of the chance and got out for a single-digit score. Saha also succumbed to the pressure and lost his wicket after scoring 44 runs. Abdul Samad and Abhishek Sharma tried to do damage control but could not finish the innings after promising starts. As a result of poor batting performance, SRH managed to post another mediocre total on board.
SRH is out of the playoff hunt
With their loss to CSK, Kane Williamson’s side is officially out of the playoff race. Out of the 11 matches played, SRH have lost nine matches and won only two. This is turning out to be the worst season in years for the 2016 title winners.
