Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Chennai on Friday to keep their play-off hopes alive.

With his defeat, CSK almost bowed out of the play-offs race even as SRH stayed alive theoretically.

Despite getting assistance from the dew-laden surface, SRH made a heavy weather of the chase before finally knocking off the target in 18.4 overs.

Ishan Kishan (44 off 34 balls), after his brain fade against Mumbai Indians, played a responsible hand at the top before Kamindu Mendis (32 not out off 22 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (19 not out off 13 balls) got the visitors two points with a 49-run stand. This was SRH’s first win at this venue.

This, after pacer Harshal Patel made the best use of a sluggish Chepauk surface as Sunrisers Hyderabad put Chennai Super Kings on the brink of exit door by winning the battle of back-benchers.

With six points from nine games, SRH’s play-off qualification hangs by a thread as they need to win all their five matches and that too by a fair margin to end on 16 points, which is a safe cut-off.

SRH leapfrogged Rajasthan Royals to the eighth position in the 10-team table as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men remain at the bottom of the heap.

This is SRH’s first victory against CSK at this venue.

For CSK, their seventh defeat in nine games practically ends their hopes as they now need wins in the next five games and hope that the play-off cut-off remains at 14 for the fourth-placed team.

The confidence of CSK batters has been shot to pieces and the lack of a collective effort from their bowlers only compounded the problems.

Seamer Harshal Patel snared four wickets as Sunrisers Hyderabad bowled out five-time champions Chennai Super Kings for a modest 154 all out in an IPL match in Chennai on Friday.

In what is a probable must-win match for both sides, SRH bowlers executed their plans to perfection to limit CSK in their own den.

Harshal (4/28), who cleverly used change of pace, was complemented well by skipper Pat Cummins (2/21), ambidextrous spinner Kamindu Mendis (1/26), veterans Mohammed Shami (1/28) and Jaydev Unadkat (2/21).

Dewald Brevis (42 off 25) was the top scorer while Deepak Hooda (22 off 21) played some lofty shots towards the end to take CSK plus 150-run mark.

Sent into bat, CSK witnessed a horrendous start as they lost Shaik Rasheed of the first ball off Shami, caught by Abhishek Sharma at first slip.

It was a perfect Test match delivery, pitched on length outside off, shaping away with the batter just poking at it.

Young Ayush Mhatre (30 off 19) was, however, going great guns, picking up boundaries at will with his attacking batting against Shami, Cummins and Unadkat.

Sam Curran was the next CSK wicket to depart as he top-edged a Harshal Patel delivery to Aniket Verma at deep midwicket.

There was more agony in store for CSK as a set Mhatre was holed out by Ishan Kishan off Cummins in the sixth over as the hosts managed only 50 for 3 in the powerplay on a sluggish surface.

In the seventh over, Patel dropped a dolly off Zeeshan Ansari to hand Ravindra Jadeja (21) a life and the veteran India batter utilised the life to struck Ansari over long on for a huge six.

But Jadeja’s stay was cut short by Kamindu Mendis, cleaning up his stumps soon.

At the halfway mark, CSK reached 76 for four in 10 overs.

But Shivam Dube (12 off 9) and Brevis (42 off 25) had other plans as they took the attack to the opposition with their power hitting.

While Dube hit Shami for two exquisite boundaries through the covers in the 11th over, Brevis clobbered Mendis for three maximums in the next over to keep up the run rate.

Drafted into the side, Brevis was in destructive mood as he clobbered Patel for another six before being dismissed, caught by Mendis at long off.

However CSK lost wickets in a heap as Dube was holed out by Abhishek at long on off Unadkat in the next over.

In came Dhoni in his 400th T20 match, but he too failed to fire CSK as the veteran batter slashed a Patel delivery straight to Abhishek at point.

Towards the end, Hooda tried his best to lift the innings and did manage to take CSK past 150-run mark.

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya said captaincy is sometimes about instincts and innovation rather than just adhering to stereotype roles, following his team’s seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL match in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The all-rounder came up with yet another bold decision as he asked Deepak Chahar to bowl all his four overs in a single spell. Chahar returned excellent figures of 4-0-12-2 as he, along with New Zealand quick Trent Boult, reduced the Sunrisers to 13 for 4, from where the home side couldn’t recover and lost the contest in just 15.4 overs.

This was MI’s fourth consecutive victory and pushed the five-time IPL champions to third spot on the table with 10 points. Former MI skipper Rohit Sharma too played his part, smashing his second successive half-century this season.

“Realised that captaincy sometimes is about instincts. Want to see and react and not always pre-plan. In a situation like this where he (Chahar) bowled wonderfully in the powerplay, then why hold his fourth over back?” said Pandya, as Chahar went for the SRH jugular and made the biggest impact in the game.

“Good to have a win. Glad the boys are taking the momentum in the right way. I’ve felt, once everyone starts clicking in this team there will be domination. Deepak, Boult set it up; Rohit, SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) finished it. Overall, a wonderful win,” added the captain.

He, however, cautioned the team to not become complacent, saying a few more boxes still need to be ticked.

“Just need to get better in all departments. So far, very satisfied,” he added.

‘Player of the Match’ Boult, whose 4/26 took the wind out of SRH’s sails, also praised Chahar, saying the Indian quick did a great job.

“To keep a quality side down in their home conditions was the most satisfying. Deepak did a great job. I’d love to bowl four in a row and swing it around but it doesn’t always happen. You have to be ready to bowl in whatever stage you’re asked,” said the New Zealander.

SRH skipper Pat Cummins conceded that his team’s plans are not falling in place. SRH are currently in ninth place with just four points.

“After (losing) a couple of wickets, you have to find a way to steady the ship. Couldn’t do that. The difference between the first game where we got 280-plus and the next, where we folded, was big,” Cummins said.

“That’s T20, you don’t know what happens. Hasn’t worked out so far. We have a few away games now. It’s about assessing each wicket quickly. Some days it might be all-out attack and there’ll be graft on others.” 

Delhi Capitals slowly but surely inched closer towards play-off qualification, annihilating Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets in an IPL match in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The win was powered by a near-perfect performance from their pace unit, aided by inexplicable tactics from rival captain Rishabh Pant.

The trio of Mukesh Kumar (4/33), Mitchell Starc (1/25) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/25 in 3 overs) used slower deliveries smartly as LSG could only manage a below-par 159/6 after being 87/1 at the halfway mark.

In the back-10, LSG could manage only 72 runs recording their lowest team total of the tournament so far.

It made matters only worse that Pant, with his bandaged right palm, came in at No. 7 and was dismissed for a two ball duck, while Abdul Samad wasted deliveries like a millionaire up the order.

The match as a contest was over at half-time only.

Young opener Abhishek Porel (51 off 36) set the tone before KL Rahul (57 not out off 42) and Axar Patel (34 not out off 20) saw DC home with 13 balls to spare, sealing their sixth win in eight games.

With Sanjiv Goenka in the stands, it couldn’t have been sweeter for Rahul, whose third fifty of the season, was a nice little statement with willow, having endured the LSG owner’s public wrath during a game last season.

Pant’s bowling changes were unimaginative and persisted with Ravi Bishnoi, who has become a one-trick pony with only googly as his wicket-taking delivery isn’t helping his cause either.

A couple of more wins in the next six games will take DC to 16 points, considered magic figure for play-off qualifications.

The wicket didn’t have any demons but LSG, in terms of strategy, execution and intent, had their worst game of the season and skipper Pant, the record Rs 27-crore, recruit didn’t seem to be there.

There were misfields, sitters being dropped with LSG and its skipper cutting a sorry picture.

At the toss, he said his injury isn’t really serious but sending Samad and Ayush Badoni before himself left everyone perplexed whether he is playing at a fitness level below 100 percent.

Despite the palm injury, he also kept wickets.

The ball was coming nicely onto the bat during the first 10 overs and the bounce was even as Aiden Markram (52 off 33 balls) attacked well and Mitchell Marsh (45 off 36 balls) for once played second fiddle, allowing the South African to dominate.

Sensing the nature of the track, the DC bowlers changed their tactic effortlessly and started taking pace off the deliveries while altering the length.

Chameera got Markram with a fuller delivery, which he tried to slash but found the only fielder stationed at deep cover.

But it was Starc, who dealt a telling blow when he got the dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran (9), who started with a couple of sweeps off Kuldeep Yadav.

Sensing that the West Indian would tonk the length balls bowled at anything above 135 clicks, Starc bowled a slow bouncer and forced him to rush into an ugly pull with both his feet off the ground. The result was an inside edge onto the stumps.

Samad (2 off 8 balls) and Marsh were out in quick succession as Mukesh Kumar varied the speed of his deliveries to get two wickets in a single over. He also got the prized wicket of Pant with the final ball of the LSG innings.

While Badoni played some cheeky strokes, LSG always looked like the team that would come second best in this encounter. Now DC have beaten LSG twice in this game.