Chennai Super Kings (CSK) recorded their fourth win in five matches yesterday in a high-scoring encounter when they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

It was, however, a heart-stopping and nail-biting finish for the millions of CSK fans at the Stadium as well as in front of millions of televisions in India and abroad as Dwayne Bravo held his nerve and delivered a tight delivery when SRH needed a six off the last ball to seal victory.

After wrapping up their ‘home’ match in Pune comfortably, CSK played their ‘away’ match against SRH.  Sent into bat by the home team, CSK stuttered in its initial ten overs scoring just 50 runs as openers Shane Watson and Faf Duplesis failed miserably besides eating up lots of deliveries.  The third-wicket pair of Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina then took the SRH bowlers to the cleaners from 11th to 15th overs, scoring a shopping 80-plus runs.

Rayudu struck fours and sixes almost at will and was the dominant partner for the 112-run stand for the third wicket, scoring 79 off just 37 balls with four huge sixes and nine fours.  Dhoni and Raina then added 40 more in 3.2 overs, giving CSK good respectability to their total, which wasn’t on the cards when CSK had scored 50/2 in ten overs.  Dhoni’s penchant for bit-hitting and Raina’s uncharacteristic slow-paced yet effective innings, gave CSK a huge total to defend.

Deepak Chahar then took three wickets in his first three overs to reduced the home team to 22/3 in 4.2 overs.  SRH and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson came to the party with a classic innings of 84 which almost took SRH to victory.  After Shakib Al Hasan departed in the 11th over, SRH needed 112 runs in 9.3 overs when bit-hitting Yusuf Pathan joined Williamson.

Pathan’s and Williamson’s booming sixes and fours rattled CSK’s bowlers as the duo added 70 in the next 8.3 overs.  However, with Williamson and Pathan getting out within a space of five balls, it was left to Rashid Khan and Indian wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha to score 25 off the last eight balls.  They almost did it with Rashid hitting a six and a four off the fourth and fifth balls of Bravo’s over before the veteran West Indian used all his experience to tame Khan in the final ball.  Rayudu was adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’.

CSK moved to the top of the points tally with this narrow and exciting win.  They are actually joint leaders with Kings’ XI Punjab with 08 points from five matches but are ahead in the Net Run Rate category.

Brief scores: CSK (182/3 in 20 overs: Suresh Raina 54*, Ambati Rayudu 79, M.S. Dhoni 25*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/22) beat SRH (Kane Williamson 84, Shakib 24, Yusuf Pathan 45, Rashid Khan 17*, Deepak Chahar 3/15) by four runs