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Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, in Hyderabad.
Jonny Bairstow and David Warner slammed breezy fifties as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
While Warner was aggressive as always, scoring 50 off 25 balls, Bairstow completed the chase calmly, knocking off an unbeaten 61 off 44 balls as Sunrisers completed the chase of 133 runs with as many as 19 deliveries to spare.
The outcome ended Sunrisers's run of three straight reverses and brought the Super Kings’s winning run to a screeching halt, the sound of which though failed to drown the chants of 'Dhoni, Dhoni' that reverberated across the stadium.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched the proceedings from the dressing room after being ruled out of the game with back spasm, the first time since 2010 that he did not lead his beloved yellow brigade. Indeed, the team missed him, and so did the crowd.
Imran Tahir was Chennai’s most successful bowler with figures of 2/20.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad bowled a nagging line and length to put the brakes on the Super Kings.
Leading the side in the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was rested for the game because of back spasm, Suresh Raina opted to bat after the coin landed in his favour.
However, the decision did not work wonders for the visitors as the Sunrisers bowlers produced a disciplined effort to pick up five wickets for 22 runs and restrict Chennai.
Opener Faf du Plessis top-scored with a 31-ball 45 and added 79 runs for the opening wicket with Shane Watson (31).
After that Chennai Super Kings did not have much to cheer about as the hosts made a remarkable comeback.
Ignored for the World Cup, Ambati Rayadu remained not out on 25 off 21 balls.
While leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the most successful bowler with economical figures of 2/17 in four overs, seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/21) and Khaleel Ahmed (1/22) were also miserly.
It was a quite beginning for Chennai as Bhuvneshwar conceded just one run in the opening over. Complementing his senior pace partner, Khaleel also bowled a tight first over, giving away only three runs.
In a manner least convincing, Chennai got their first boundary when Watson's thick edge went flying over the slip cordon.
Du Plessis drove Khaleel over his head for a boundary in the fourth over, a proper cricketing shot this time around, and CSK followed that with a flurry of fours and sixes.
While Watson found the fence four times, Du Plessis hit two maximums to up the ante at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Having added 79 runs in just under 10 overs, Watson was bowled by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, giving the home fans something to cheer about after a prolonged wait.
The Australian's dismissal triggered a collapse, from which the Super Kings struggled to recover.