HARSHAL PATEL took four wickets and Kamindu Mendis contributed with both bat and ball as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in Chennai on Friday.
The match marked MS Dhoni’s 400th T20 appearance, but Chennai finished on the losing side.
Patel claimed 4-28, supported by Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat who both finished with figures of 2-21, as Sunrisers bowled out Chennai for 154 in 19.5 overs.
South Africa’s Dewald Brevis top-scored for Chennai with a 25-ball 42, hitting four sixes and a boundary on his debut for the franchise. Dhoni scored six runs before being dismissed after facing ten balls.
Sunrisers chased down the target in 18.4 overs, finishing at 158 for five. Ishan Kishan led the way with a 34-ball 44, including five boundaries and a six.
Mendis scored an unbeaten 32 off 22 balls and shared an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 49 with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who remained 19 not out off 13 balls.
The win moved Sunrisers to eighth place in the 10-team table, while Gujarat Titans topped the standings with 12 points from eight matches. Chennai, the five-time champions, remained at the bottom with four points from nine games.
Patel, who was named man of the match, said discipline was the key to his performance. "I figured out pretty early that hitting it on a good length around the stumps was important because it was hard to hit with the horizontal bat," said Patel.
Dhoni pointed to the loss of wickets as a key reason for the defeat. "I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is in the first innings the wicket was slightly better," said Dhoni. "A total of 157 wasn't a justifiable score."
Earlier, Chennai’s innings was disrupted by Patel, who removed several middle and lower-order batsmen.
Chennai lost an early wicket when opener Shaik Rasheed was caught in the slips off the first delivery bowled by Mohammad Shami.
Seventeen-year-old Ayush Mhatre impressed with a 19-ball 30, hitting six boundaries.
Ravindra Jadeja added 21 runs with a six and a boundary before being dismissed, bringing Dhoni to the crease to loud cheers from the crowd.
Dhoni’s stay lasted ten balls. Brevis pushed the Kings past 150 with a quick innings, while Deepak Hooda contributed 22 off 21 balls, hitting a six and a boundary.
(With inputs from agencies)
