IPL 2018, SRH vs CSK: Kane Williamson's wicket is the SK Turning Point of the match
Chennai Super Kings continued their winning juggernaut with a slender 4 run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad. After being asked to bat first by Kane Williamson, CSK posted 182/3 on the scoreboard, courtesy of some power hitting by Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina.
In reply, Sunrisers Hyderabad started their innings in the worst possible manner with their first three wickets falling in the fifth over with just 22 runs on the board. Their captain, Kane Williamson steadied the ship for SRH along with Shakib Al Hasan and slowly but surely kept his side in the game. He top scored for his side with 84 runs from 51 deliveries.
Williamson was timing the ball sweetly from the word go as it became evident that if SRH would go on to win this one, the Kiwi batter would have to play one of his best ever T20 knocks. He did play one of his best knocks in the format but lost his wicket just two overs before the end.
His wicket was the turning point of the match as it instantly made CSK the favourites to clinch this one. Williamson came into his own in the 15th over and dealt only in sixes from that point on. He struck three sixes in Karn Sharma's over that changed the dynamics of the match and opened the floodgates for his side.
The onslaught by his captain also gave Yusuf Pathan the much-needed confidence to come into his own and strike his famed big blows. The duo added 79 runs in 47 deliveries.
On the last ball of the 18th over, Williamson top-edged a slower one from Dwayne Bravo. Ravindra Jadeja came running forward from long on and held on to a fine diving catch which dismissed the SRH captain. The equation at that moment became 33 runs from 12 deliveries with Hyderabad's biggest hope now back in the dugout.
Williamson was handling CSK's bowling attack with ease - be it the spinners or the pace bowlers and was clearing the fence with some clean hitting. It was necessary for the Super Kings to dismiss him as soon as possible.
Bravo did the needful and with that wicket, won the game for his side. If the Kiwi had been at the crease, the result surely could have gone in SRH's favour.
What Williamson did for SRH, Rayudu did exactly that for the Super Kings! CSK started the first innings pretty slowly, managing just 27 runs in the powerplay. Rayudu initially took time to adjust and then unleashed himself against the Hyderabad bowlers.
He scored 79 from just 37 balls to register his second highest ever score in the IPL. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni also played their part with some big hitting and helped CSK post a big total on the board.
Sunrisers Hyderabad fell just short of the target and despite Kane Williamson's heroics, could not cross the finishing line.
Our tournament homepage has IPL live score, Match Analysis, Detailed Stats, Fantasy Tips, Controversies, Match Predictions and much more. Bookmark it now!