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Match Report:

Scorecard

Rayudu century topples ladder leaders

Chennai opener Ambati Rayudu proves too dominant for Sunrisers Hyderabad with an unbeaten century in Pune

The result: Sunrisers Hyderabad 4-179 (Dhawan 79, Shardul 2-32) lost to Chennai Super Kings 2-180 (Rayudu 100no, Sandeep 1-36) by eight wickets with six balls remaining.

The match in a tweet: Rayudu steps up and steps down on ladder leaders Sunrisers Hyderabad with a blistering century to counter Captain Kane! #CSKvSRH


The silent killer: In a team packed full of international superstars and household names like Dhoni, Watson and Bravo, Ambati Rayudu has slipped under the radar; until now. The holder of the Orange Cap for the longest period this season before Delhi’s Risabh Pant took hold, Rayudu continued his stellar campaign with an unbeaten century against top-of-the-table Hyderabad. The knock came from just 62 balls and included seven boundaries and seven sixes. He had a 134-run opening stand with Watson (57) before unleashing at the back end to ensure his side has one foot in the playoffs.

The evergreen Dhoni: In 12 innings in this tournament, MS Dhoni has finished not out eight times and currently has 413 runs at an average of 103.30. Once again, Dhoni found himself not out by night’s end, an unbeaten 20 enough to see his side home, making it his fifth straight innings where he has finished with red ink. In 11 editions of the Indian Premier League, Dhoni has passed a season tally of 400 just twice before this year. Should he continue his elite form, he’ll have no issues reigning in his IPL record of 461 runs, which he achieved in 2013.

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Captain Kane continues on: It’s fair to say not many other players have taken to leadership in the IPL quite like Kane Williamson. The Kiwi skipper once again posted a half-century – his seventh of the season – and paired with Shikhar Dhawan (79) once again at the top of the innings. He was thrust into the captaincy after the late absence of David Warner and has shined, more than doubling his previous tally of half-centuries in one season and leading the Orange Army to a playoffs berth. He is also just 38 runs off the Orange Cap and his average of 60.4 is second in the league, behind only MS Dhoni.

The next stop: Both teams have lengthy spells before their next encounter, the Sunrisers heading to Bengaluru to face Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers on Friday before Chennai play the bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils on Saturday, with victory to confirm qualification for the final four.

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