IPL 2018 SRH vs CSK: Rayudu slams 79 to guide Chennai to 182/3

Hyderabad: Ambati Rayudu played a sensational inning to guide a struggling Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a winnable total 182/3 against an upbeat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling in Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here on Sunday.

Rayudu was not at all bothered by the disastrous start CSK had got as he started finding the gaps and thee sweet point of his bat very early in his inning. He scored 79 runs off only 37 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes an inning he will cherish for a long-long time.

Suresh Raina, who was struggling in the initial part of his inning, eventually scored a gritty half-century. He remained unbeaten at 53 runs off 43 balls with the help of 5 fours and 2 sixes. Skipper MS Dhoni played a flamboyant cameo during the slog overs scoring 25 runs off 12 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Earlier, opener Shane Watson, who smashed a blisstering century in previous match, could only score 9 runs off 15 balls while his opening partner Faf du Plessis added 11 runs off 13 balls. At one point, CSK was in a precarious situation at 32/2 in 7.1 overs, when Rayudu came to his team's rescue.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled three overs and went for 22 runs for 1 wicket, while Rashid Khan once again went very expensive giving away 49 runs off the four overs he bowled. He also picked up a wicket.

Billy Stanlake (0/38, 4 overs), Shakib Al Hasan (0/32, 4 overs), Siddharth Kaul (0/32, 4 overs) and Deepak Hooda (0/8, 1 over) remained wicket-less.

The heroic effort of Rayudu has guided CSK to a total from where they can win the match against a Shikhar Dhawan-less SRH.