“Come on Chennai, let’s make some noise!” It was indeed a tough day for the DJ at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday. Urging the crowd to back the hosts throughout Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings as David Warner (57) and Manish Pandey (83*) smashed boundaries at will, he received little in terms of engagement from the fans. Despite the stadium a sea of yellow as it usually is when CSK play, there was something different — the madness that engulfs the arena was missing. And facing a 176-run target, the highest CSK have been asked to scale at home this season, didn’t help the cause either. But little did he perhaps know that for the second half of the night, it would take minimal efforts on his part to keep the crowd buzzing in humid conditions. If falling to 8/1 after three overs raised some concerns that the hosts were to lose their first game at home, Suresh Raina and Shane Watson erased that with two perfect T20 knocks. Also Read: If I tell the secret of reaching play-offs, Chennai won’t buy me at the auction: MS Dhoni Although the chase went down to the wire, CSK never looked in trouble, chasing down the target with a ball to spare, reaching 176/4. After Faf du Plessis fell early, Raina started by smashing the second ball he faced for four and followed it up with four boundaries and a six off Sandeep Sharma in the sixth over. He even approached the wily Rashid Khan in a similar manner, only for the latter to trump him; the leggie lured him into stepping down the track. Raina missed the line and keeper Jonny Bairstow did the rest. Watson, who let Raina don the aggressor’s role until then, took charge and toyed with the bowling, especially Sandeep Sharma and Rashid. Though the pair picked two wickets, it leaked 98 runs in 7.5 overs between them, ruining the good work by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed upfront. Watson studded his knock with nine fours and six sixes but by the time he fell, four short of what would have been a deserved hundred, he had taken the match beyond Hyderabad’s reach. Batting on 37 off 31 at one point, the gear change saw him score 59 off the last 22 balls he faced — an onslaught that seemed to disrupt everything stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar had in store. Earlier, while it was a grand start for the hosts, Pandey turned the script in style by joining Warner. Neither took too long to shrug off the early jitters as they lofted Harbhajan Sngh for two towering sixes in the fourth over and then smashed Deepak Chahar for two boundaries in the fifth. The intent was there for everyone to see. On the low-scoring pitch, as suggested by earlier matches this season, get as many runs on board in the powerplay. Also Read: MS Dhoni’s lightning-quick stumping forces David Warner to walk Unlike his dismal shows with the bat so far this season, having scored 54 in five innings, Pandey took a more aggressive approach, the one that had brought him two centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament this season with Karnataka. Reaching 50 in 25 deliveries, he proved an able ally for Warner, who notched his seventh half-century of the IPL. It was the 72-ball 115-run stand between the two that laid the platform for Sunrisers, and although they had put enough on the board by Chepauk’s standards, the hosts knew exactly what was required to sail through.<doc-sep>A first over maiden by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a run out [that of Faf du Plessis] in the third, conceding only 16 runs in the first four overs — Sunrisers Hyderabad clearly had a plan to stop Chennai Super Kings at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. Filled with experienced characters, Chennai is known for turning things around. Today, it was Shane Watson’s day. The hero of IPL 2018 final struck form at the right time to guide his side to a six-wicket victory against Sunrisers. SCORECARD | COMMENTARY Chennai dominated from the fifth over and in a flash, the required rate went below seven. That’s exactly how M.S. Dhoni’s boys compete. Chasing 176, Watson (96 off 53 balls; 4x9, 6x6) took on Khaleel Ahmed to start the run riot. The six over the square-leg boundary off the cutter and the four over extra cover off a length ball turned the clock backwards. Suresh Raina (38 off 24; 4x6, 6x1) carried the onslaught and hit 22 runs — four fours and a six — off Sandeep Sharma’s first over. Suresh Raina’s charge 5.1: Short ball, hit through square. 5.2: No run 5.3: Length ball on leg, hit through fine leg 5.4: Length ball outside off, Raina extends his bat to hit through third man 5.5: Slower ball, goes through square leg boundary 5.6: Short ball on leg stump, a massive pull for a six Sharma conceded 19 in his second over, which made it easier for Chennai towards the end. Watson was dropped on 33 by Bairstow off Sharma. The Aussie ended up stitching two 50+ partnerships — 77 for the second-wicket with Raina and 80 for the third wicket with Rayudu to remain in the game. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan got Raina stumped in the 10th over. Rayudu and Watson's wickets towards the end came as consolation to Sunrisers. Sent in to bat, Sunrisers lost Jonny Bairstow (0) upfront but David Warner (57 off 45; 4x3, 6x2) and Manish Pandey (83* off 49; 4x7, 6x3) set the ball rolling with a 115-run stand for the second wicket in 72 balls. Dhoni and Co. had done their homework for Bairstow. Knowing his vulnerability against spin, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh — introduced in the second over — took two deliveries to dismiss the in-form Englishman to end his grand season (445 runs) on a quiet note. The first ball that Bairstow faced had a vicious flight nipping back into his pads. The wicket-taking delivery was a quicker one that forced the right-hander to play the wrong line, thus gifting an edge to Dhoni behind the stumps. Pandey-Warner show In IPL 2019, Sunrisers’ middle-order had been sluggish as Pandey struggled for form. But he looked unchained tonight. He didn’t limp for runs at all. The first ball he faced (off Harbhajan) was smacked down the ground for a boundary. Harbhajan conceded 15 runs in his second over as Warner and Pandey sent him on a leather hunt with two massive sixes. The one off the southpaw flew straight down the ground, while Pandey milked him over long-off. Manish Pandey plays a shot en route to his unbeaten 83. - K. Pichumani Consistent paceman Deepak Chahar soon received the same treatment from the Sunrisers batters. The duo plundered 13 runs in the next over comprising two boundaries and a three. The four that came off Warner’s blade was a tennis forehand-like shot off a good length delivery wide of off. Pandey cashed in on the full length to send it down the ground; Chahar was quick to get out of way. Sunrisers reached its first 50 in 5.4 overs. Pandey reached his half-century in 25 balls in the 11th over. Warner registered his 43rd IPL fifty — seventh of the season — in the 12th over in 39 balls. Returning for a second spell, seasoned campaigner Harbhajan finally dismissed Warner off another flighted delivery that forced the Aussie to lose his crease balance. Dhoni took the bails off in a flash. Vijay Shankar (26 off 20; 4x2, 6x1) kept supporting Pandey but he had slowed down by then. He was dropped on 79 by Suresh Raina off Chahar but the damage had been done by then. Harbhajan claimed two wickets, while Chahar returned with one. Chennai’s star spinner for the season, Imran Tahir, conceded 38 runs without picking a wicket.<doc-sep>CSK batsman Shane Watson plays a shot. (Source: PTI) CSK batsman Shane Watson plays a shot. (Source: PTI) Shane Watson’s knock of 96 off 53 balls helped his side reclaim the top spot in Indian Premier League points table and almost ensured a play-off berth for Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. CSK beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Watson’s innings comprised of nine fours and half a dozen of sixes, ensuring that the hosts reached the cut-off limit of 16 points needed for the play-off even though they would like to finish in the top two. Here is how the cricket fraternity reacted to Watson’s knock: #CSK likely to be the first team to qualify for the playoffs. Once again. It’s almost impossible to breach the Chennai fortress. Remember….first Qualifier is in Chennai too. 😇🙇‍♂️ #CSKvSRH #IPL — Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 23, 2019 Watson neutralised Rashid. And that was the Game-Set and Match in #CSK’s favour. The biggest threat. So….Rashid has still never dismissed Watson in T20s. #CSKvSRH #IPL — Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 23, 2019 That is a superb innings from Watson. The pitch has played better than most in Chepauk but some balls have stuck & gripped but Watson countered that by staying still at the crease and holding his shape – trusting in his power to get the job done. #IPL #CSKvSRH — Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) April 23, 2019 Once again Watson has bludgeoned the Sunrisers. Been a fabulous innings. — Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 23, 2019 Brief Scores: SRH 175/3 (Manish Pandey 83 no off 49 balls, Harbhajan Sinfg 2/39) CSK 176/4 in 19.5 overs (Shane Watson 96 off 53 balls, Suresh Raina 38 off 24 balls)<doc-sep>The final of the Indian Premier League scheduled for May 12 has been moved to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad from Chennai after the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association failed to acquire approval from the local government to reopen three stands at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, PTI reported on Monday. The closure of stands I, J and K, with a combined capacity of 12,000, had robbed Chennai of matches during the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup. Women’s matches – that were not televised – were played in Chennai then. The last time the stands had been opened was during the India-Australia Test match in 2013. “We had to shift the matches from Chennai to Hyderabad after TNCA intimated us that they have not procured the requisite permission to open the three stands I, J and K,” PTI quoted Vinod Rai, the chairman of the committee of administrators that manages the day-to-day activities of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, as saying. “Since the gate sales of the knockout matches is BCCI’s prerogative, we had to take a call. We would be having two knockout matches in Vizag (Visakhapatnam),” he added. The eliminator on May 8 and qualifier 2 two days are the matches shifted to Visakhapatnam. Chennai Super Kings chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan, who learnt about the development after landing from Bengaluru in the evening, expressed his disappointment at the decision. “There are a lot of legal issues and we couldn’t obtain permission from the government to open the stands. The renovation also couldn’t happen due to a lot of factors,” he said. However, CSK will get to play at home if it finishes the league first or second. Meanwhile, he first three-team mini women’s IPL will be held from May 6-10 in Jaipur with a new team Velocity being added to the existing Trailblazers and Supernovas.<doc-sep>
New Delhi: The Indian Premier League final scheduled for 12 May was on Monday shifted from Chennai to Hyderabad after the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) failed to get requisite permission from the government to open the three closed stands. While the Chennai Super Kings still have a chance to play Qualifier 1 at home if they finish among the top two teams in the league but the Eliminator (8 May) and Qualifier 2 (10 May) has been shifted to Visakhapatnam. "We had to shift the matches from Chennai to Hyderabad after TNCA intimated us that they have not procured the requisite permission to open the three stands I, J and K," Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai told PTI on Monday. "Since the gate sales of the knock-out matches is BCCI's prerogative, we had to take a call. We would be having two knock-out matches in Vizag," he added. The three stands make up for more than 12,000 tickets and BCCI would have lost out on a few crores of gate money. The stands have remained closed since 2012 save one international match between India and Pakistan when an exception was made. Asked if all the knock-out matches' ticket sales are BCCI's prerogative, why was Qualifier 1 allotted to Chennai, Rai reasoned: "CSK, by virtue of being defending champions, were allotted the Qualifier 1 and final. Now if they finish in top two, you cannot take away all the games. They deserve to get at least one of the knock-out games." Hyderabad only got the final and not the Eliminator or Qualifier because of the general elections in the Cyber city on 6,8 amd 10 May. The first three-team mini women's IPL will be held from 6-10 May in Jaipur with a new team Velocity being added to the existing Trailblazers and Supernovas. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from IPL 2019, click here For the full schedule, date, time and venue of all the matches of IPL 12, click here Check out the full points table for IPL 2019, including holders of Orange and Purple Caps