Sunrisers Hyderabad put on an awesome bowling display to restrict CSK to 154 and then hunted it down with five wickets in hand to register a crucial win. In an otherwise dud of a campaign, SRH finally had something going their way as they attained their first ‘away’ win in IPL 2025. For the home team, the trend of local underperformance continued as they nosedived to their fourth consecutive loss in Chepauk this season.
What was the determining factor?
With wickets left in the tank and the dew factor slated to influence proceedings later on, Sunrisers Hyderabad were able to ace the end overs. What seemed to be an exacting chase was simplified in a couple of overs, and it helped that SRH had quality batters like Nitish Reddy and Kamindu Mendis at the crease even after losing half their side. They waded through the choppy waters with key boundaries that eased SRH to victory. Mendis had also starred in the field earlier, cutting short an ebullient innings from Dewald Brevis with a fine leaping catch to his left at long-off.
CSK struggle in the PowerPlay
An early strike by Mohammed Shami, who had the young Shaik Rasheed nicking to slip, put CSK under pressure straightaway. The exuberance of Ayush Mhatre was once again the catalyst for CSK’s resurgence in the PowerPlay even as wickets tumbled from the other end. Sam Curran was caught off a slower ball from Harshal Patel while Mhatre chipped Pat Cummins to mid-off for an entertaining 19-ball 30.
SRH keep the lid on the run-scoring
Sending Ravindra Jadeja in at No. 4 again did not pay off for the hosts. The southpaw was dropped once before he played back to a fuller delivery to be bowled by Kamindu Mendis for a 17-ball 21. At 74/4 near the halfway stage, CSK were left yearned for some impetus through the middle overs. Shivam Dube and Brevis, making his CSK debut, struck up a mini-partnership. The latter hit four sixes and a four in his 25-ball 42 before being sent back by a wonder grab by Mendis. In the following over, Jaydev Unadkat removed Dube to peg CSK back once again just as they were beginning to gather some steam.
Only a catch like that could’ve stopped that cameo from Brevis! 🤯
Kamindu Mendis, take a bow 🙇#CSK 119/6 after 14 overs.
Updates ▶ https://t.co/26D3UalRQi#TATAIPL | #CSKvSRH | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/NvthsQfpUj
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 25, 2025
CSK finish with a middling score
Deepak Hooda chugged CSK along but the wickets fell unabated. Harshal Patel finished with a four-wicket haul in the process as SRH bowled CSK out for an under-par score that can be attributed to a sluggish pitch and some disciplined bowling suited to the surface.
SRH don’t exactly blaze off the blocks
Like CSK, SRH too suffered an early dismissal with Khaleel Ahmed ensnaring Abhishek Sharma for a duck. Ishan kishan and Travis Head joined forces in a bid to resuscitate the innings but boundaries were largely difficult to come by. However, just as the contours of a partnership began to emerge, Head fell to Anshul Kamboj with a back-of-length ball cramping him up on the pull and hitting the bail instead.
Wickets curtail the progress of SRH too in middle overs
SRH met the same fate in the middle phase with regular wickets putting the innings in a limbo. Heinrich Klaasen perished soon after the Powerplay and Ishan Kishan, who had got his eye in, departed against the run of play, although not before adding 36 with Aniket Verma. Noor got the better of both Ishan and Verma, leaving SRH in a spot of bother heading into the home stretch as they needed 41 in the last five overs.
Kamindu, Nitish get the job done assuredly
Kamindu Mendis played an instrumental role by hitting boundaries off both Matheesha Pathirana and Noor who were CSK’s go-to men in the death overs. Giving him company, Nitish Reddy was at his calculative best. Their unbeaten 49-run stand took the stress out of the equation and drove SRH past the finish line.
