CHENNAI, India (AP) – Sunrisers Hyderabad booked a spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs with a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Monday, anchored by Ishan Kishan.
With Hyderabad’s victory, Gujarat Titans also secured a place in the four-team playoffs. Defending champions and league leaders Royal Challengers Bangalore have already been eliminated, leaving only one spot left to be filled in the knockouts.
Five-time champions Chennai are still in contention for the title but needed a favorable result, including a win over Gujarat in Thursday’s final league match.
Playing their first match after a week’s rest, Hyderabad eased into the over at 181-5 as Kishan scored a breezy 70 off 47 balls and Heinrich Claassen mastered spin with a knock of 47 off 26 balls.
Chennai finished with 180 wins and 7 losses despite struggling against the variations of Hyderabad’s fast bowlers. Captain Pat Cummins led the way with 3-28, complemented by Saqib Hussain’s 2-34 and Eshan Malinga’s 1-26.
“It’s really satisfying and a pretty tough wicket for batsmen,” Cummins said. “That partnership (between Kishan and Klaasen) was really tough. They just picked their opponents and played some outrageous shots.”
“The real thing (playoffs) starts now.”
Veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni was at the stadium for the first time this season, still nursing a calf injury and missed the team’s final home game in front of about 35,000 fans.
Chennai’s Sanju Samson got off to an agile start on a slow pitch, hitting five fours and a six in the first 11 balls before Cummins found the outside edge in his third over.
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad worked hard off 21 balls to score 15 runs with a no-bounder, but he too fell to Cummins, but Chennai posted healthy runs in the middle overs with good serving from Dewald Brevis (44) and Kartik Sharma (32).
However, he was overshadowed by Kishan of Hyderabad and Klaasen, who was dropped at number 18. The pair scored a total of 75 for the third wicket until Claasen stumbled. However, Kishan scored six points from the win.
“I was in the game till the penultimate over,” Gaikwad said. “Everyone played their best today.”
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