IPL: Chennai edge out Hyderabad in thriller to enter final
Mumbai, May 22: A fighting unbeaten half-century under pressure from Faf du Plessis helped Chennai Super Kings edge past Sunrisers Hyderabad by two wickets in the first qualifier here on Tuesday to enter the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Needing 140 runs to win, Chennai made heavy weather of what should have been a comfortable chase before crossing the line with five balls to spare.
Chennai have reached the final seven times in the nine seasons they have competed in the IPL. They had missed out on the previous two seasons as they were banned following the spot fixing and betting scandal.
Du Plessis batted through the innings to remain not out on 67 runs, with five hits to the fence and four sixes studding his 42-ball knock. The opener kept on playing sensibly throughout even as no other batman clicked at the other end.
For Hyderabad, spinner Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma scalped two wickets each.
Hyderabad will now face the winner of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 on May 25 in Kolkata.
Chasing a modest total, Chennai lost their first wicket on the fifth ball of the first over. Wicket-keeper Shreevats Goswami took a brilliant catch to dismiss opener Shane Watson (0) off pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
In-form Suresh Raina was playing beautifully, hitting four well-timed boundaries on his way to 22 off 13 balls. But he was bowled by pacer Kaul in the fourth over when he shuffled across and exposed his leg-stump.
Off the very next ball, Ambati Rayudu (0) was also clean bowled by Kaul. Rayudu's dismissal was largely due to poor shot selection as he misjudged a slow yorker only to see the ball crash into the base of middle and off-stump.
Unperturbed by the fall of wickets, du Plessis kept on playing sensibly. New batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9), then joined in the middle and the duo rotated the strike perfectly.
But just when the duo started timing the ball well, leg-spinner Rashid Khan delivered one that turned the wrong way to dismiss Dhoni.
With Chennai struggling at 39/4 after eight overs, all eyes were on the lower-middle order But it failed as Dwayne Bravo (7), Ravindra Jadeja (3) and Deepak Chahar (10) went back to the pavilion in quick succession.
Du Plesis, on the other hand, started unleashing his shots and hammered few sixes but lack of support from other batters
Harbhajan Singh could only manage two runs off nine balls before being run out. With Chennai in deep trouble, Shardul Thakur gave some much needed impetus to the run rate with three boundaries off the five balls he faced.
Thakur, who remained unbeaten on 15 runs, played sensibly and gave the strike to du Plesis.
With Chennai needing six runs off the last over, du Plessis brought up the victory in style over the umpire's head off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bowling.
Earlier, lower-order batsman Carlos Brathwaite's unbeaten 43-run knock and some useful contributions from skipper Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post a modest total of 139/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
Put in to bat, Hyderabad started the proceeding on a poor note, losing opener Shikhar Dhawan (0) on the first ball.
Other batsmen Goswami (12), Manish Pandey (8) and Shakib Al Hasan (12) also failed to deliver when needed the most. Brathwaite then came in the middle and played a quick-fire knock and took his team out of troubled waters. He played 29 balls and one boundary and slammed four sixes.
For Chennai, Dwayne Bravo scalped two wickets.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 139/7 in 20 overs (Carlos Brathwaite 43 not out; Dwayne Bravo 2/25) against Chennai Super Kings: 140/8 in 19.1 overs (Du Plesis 67; Rashid Khan 2/12)
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Mann has 'understanding' with Amit Shah to split AAP after Lok Sabha polls, claims SAD chief Badal
Sangrur (Punjab), May 11: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has an "understanding" with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to split AAP into a separate Punjab unit after the elections, like Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde did in Maharashtra, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed on Saturday.
Badal made the claim while addressing rallies at Sunam and Dhuri for the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) Sangrur candidate Iqbal Singh Jhundan.
"Bhagwant Mann has compromised with the BJP as he felt he would also be arrested like his boss (Arvind) Kejriwal because he had also perpetrated the same liquor scam as done by AAP in Delhi. This understanding has saved him from arrest," Badal alleged.
Shiv Sena leader Shinde became Maharashtra chief minister after parting ways with Uddhav Thackeray and forming an alliance with the BJP.
The Election Commission of India has since recognised the Shinde faction as officially representing the Shiv Sena while the Thackeray-led faction has been using the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) name.
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief also asserted that no Delhi-based party can be trusted with votes.
"Bhagwant Mann has opened channels with both the BJP and the Congress to hedge his bet. While he has an informal understanding with the BJP, he has also aligned with the Congress in Punjab and is putting up a friendly fight in most constituencies," Badal said.
He cited how AAP is contesting against the Congress in Punjab but Mann has been campaigning for the grand old party in Chandigarh and Haryana.
AAP and the Congress are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc. While the two parties are contesting the Lok Sabha elections independently in Punjab, they have an alliance in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh.
Urging Punjabis to "seal the borders" for all Delhi-based parties, Badal said, "The AAP government in Punjab and the Union government colluded to prevent our farmers from marching to Delhi. This led to firing of tear gas shells at our farmers and even firing of rubber bullets. Now it is your turn to seal the borders of Punjab with your votes."
He also made a case for trusting the Shiromani Akali Dal -- a home-grown party of Punjab.
Badal said the Shiromani Akali Dal has always stood for safeguarding the interests of Punjab and decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone when it became clear that the BJP was not ready to resolve any of the pending grievances of the farmers or the Sikh community.
He also announced that once the Shiromani Akali Dal is elected to power, it will release tubewell connections to all agriculturists who do not have a single connection in their name.
He also promised that all social welfare schemes that have been curtailed by successive Congress and AAP governments would be revived in totality.
