By K Aditya
Sharjah, Sep 30 (UNI) Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowlers made the most out of the slow surface of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as the side restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 134/7 in match 44 of the IPL 2021, here on Thursday.
Senior pacers Josh Hazlewood (3/34) and Dwayne Bravo (2/17) shouldered the responsibility of halting SRH run flow while Wriddhiman Saha (46 runs of 46 balls) top scored for the batting side.
Sent to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a major setback as their last-match hero Jason Roy fell cheaply in the powerplay to Hazlewood for 2 runs (7 balls).
Saha, on the other end, felt at home with the new ball and struck it well for two sixes and a boundary during the powerplay. Saha and Kane Williamson (11 off 11) took the score to 41 during the fielding restrictions before the latter was trapped plum in front of the wicket by right-arm pacer Bravo.
The run rate dropped as well with the wicket as slow bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali came in action on a surface that had no pace to offer.
Saha barely kept the scoreboard moving while Priyam Garg played a steady innings adjusting to the conditions in a 26-ball 23 stand.
However, trouble wasn't far from SRH as Bravo struck again with the wicket of Garg (7 off 10). Runs dried further with just seven runs came in the next three overs.
The piling pressure of scoring soon got Saha (46 off 46), who fell to Jadeja after misting his shot, with SRH at 74/4.
The batting side still found some respite with pinch hitters Abdul Samad (18 off 14) and Abhishek Sharma (18 off 13) smashed two boundaries and as many sixes each to take SRH past 100 runs by the 15th overs.
The duo, however, fell in space of three deliveries in the 17th over bowled by Australian bowler Hazelwood (3/24).
Jason Holder (5 off 5) followed them back to the dug out; falling to Shardul Thakur (1/37).
Afghanistan's all-rounder Rashid Khan (17* off 13) then gave SRH something to defend as he shot two boundaries at the death to take the score to 134/7. India medium-pacer Bhuvneswar Kumar remained not out at the other end (2).
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