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CSK openers ensure victory

Dubai - An opening stand of 85 between Kiwi Brendon McCullum and West Indian Dwayne Smith laid the foundation for an emphatic five-wicket victory for the Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sharjah Crickt Stadium on Sunday evening.

Chasing a modest 146 for victory, the international openers did the majority of the work before a late flurry of wickets gave the men from Hyderabad some late but futile hope as the Super Kings finished on 146-5 securing victory with three balls to spare.

An uncharacteristically subdued Aaron Finch and a typically pugnacious Darren Sammy played the major roles in the Sunrisers total after choosing to bat first.

The normally ferocious Finch was restricted to a run-a-ball 44 containing just five boundaries before he was bowled by a perfect back-of-the-hand slower ball from Mohit Sharma.

Sammy slugged an unbeaten 23 from 15 balls in the final overs but was outshone by Karn Sharma who lashed a brace of sixes in his undefeated 17 from just seven deliveries at the close.

Sunrisers fans were expecting more from Australian dynamo David Warner who was dismissed second ball by countryman Ben Hilfenhaus – courtesy of an umpiring howler.

The Hilfenhaus delivery which ‘trapped’ Warner lbw pitched approximately ten centimetres outside leg stump and would have passed over stump height by three times that amount. But while the BCCI refuse to use technology to over-rule such shockers, they will continue to occur.

Wicketkeeper Lokesh Rahul might have made a difference, too, had his ferocious pull shot to the deep mid wicket boundary not fallen directly to the fielder, Ishwar Pandey, who sent the batsman packing for 25 from 27 balls.

The target was never expected to trouble the Superkings and it didn’t. McCullum spanked 40 from 33 balls before being bowled by Karn Sharma and Smith walloped 66 from 46 balls with four fours and five sixes before holing out at long off. Suresh Raina (14) and Faf du Plessis (0) went in the space of two balls but MS Dhoni (13* from 14 balls) made certain there would be no embarrassment.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: AJ Finch, S Dhawan (capt), DA Warner, KL Rahul (wk), DJG Sammy, Y Venugopal Rao, KV Sharma, DW Steyn, A Mishra, B Kumar, I Sharma

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: DR Smith, BB McCullum, SK Raina, F du Plessis, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), M Manhas, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, BW Hilfenhaus, IC Pandey, MM Sharma
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