CHENNAI: Kamindu Mendis is a highly-rated player because of his Test exploits. This IPL, he hasn’t been at his best. Until, that is, he ran into Chennai Super Kings on Friday.
The ambidextrous allrounder brought all his skills into play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to finish off CSK’s last hopes of a playoffs qualification. It started with a couple of tight overs and Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket, followed by a stunning catch at long-on, diving full length to dismiss the dangerous Dewald Brevis — making his CSK debut — off Harshal Patel .
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It put the brakes on the hosts as they struggled to 154 in 19.5 overs. But the best of Mendis (32 not out off 22 balls) was yet to come. His team was in a spot of bother at 90/4 and the Chepauk atmosphere slowly bringing CSK to life.
Mendis, who bats left-handed, kept his calm, manoeuvred the strike and ensured that losing the set Ishan Kishan and Aniket Verma didn’t have a severe impact. He got some quality support from Nitish Reddy too, as SRH finished the game in 18.4 overs to keep their faint hopes alive. While Mendis’ allround contribution was the key to SRH’s success, it was the medium pace of Harshal Patel that did most of the early damage.
Harshal isn’t the type of bowler that CSK, when playing well, would lose their sleep over. But then, 2025 is a different story as teams that haven’t won at the Chepauk over 15 years have broken their jinx. And on Friday, it was Patel and SRH’s turn to corner glory. Bowling his slower cutters, Patel finished with 4/28 as Sunrisers Hyderabad took the steam off CSK’s innings.
It wasn’t that Patel was dishing out anything extraordinary. He was looking to take the pace off the ball and trying to keep it outside the batter’s hitting arc. But that was enough for him to take the wicket of the off-colour left-hander Sam Curran, who returned to the team and batted at No. 3. Harshal followed that up with Brevis’ wicket but the biggest moment was yet to come.
After Shivam Dube, too, was dismissed soon after by left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, it was Patel’s turn to hog the limelight again. And that too at the cost of Chennai’s favourite son MS Dhoni.
A lot was riding on Dhoni, as he came on to bat at No. 8 in the 14th over. CSK diehards believed he would provide the final flourish, but the canny Patel was up for it.
He kept the ball wide and Dhoni’s slash was taken at point by Abhishek Sharma, who took four catches. In fact, the evening started with Abhishek taking his first in the first ball at slip, an edge off Shaik Rasheed’s bat, off Mohammed Shami.
The ambidextrous allrounder brought all his skills into play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to finish off CSK’s last hopes of a playoffs qualification. It started with a couple of tight overs and Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket, followed by a stunning catch at long-on, diving full length to dismiss the dangerous Dewald Brevis — making his CSK debut — off Harshal Patel .
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
It put the brakes on the hosts as they struggled to 154 in 19.5 overs. But the best of Mendis (32 not out off 22 balls) was yet to come. His team was in a spot of bother at 90/4 and the Chepauk atmosphere slowly bringing CSK to life.
Mendis, who bats left-handed, kept his calm, manoeuvred the strike and ensured that losing the set Ishan Kishan and Aniket Verma didn’t have a severe impact. He got some quality support from Nitish Reddy too, as SRH finished the game in 18.4 overs to keep their faint hopes alive. While Mendis’ allround contribution was the key to SRH’s success, it was the medium pace of Harshal Patel that did most of the early damage.
Harshal isn’t the type of bowler that CSK, when playing well, would lose their sleep over. But then, 2025 is a different story as teams that haven’t won at the Chepauk over 15 years have broken their jinx. And on Friday, it was Patel and SRH’s turn to corner glory. Bowling his slower cutters, Patel finished with 4/28 as Sunrisers Hyderabad took the steam off CSK’s innings.
It wasn’t that Patel was dishing out anything extraordinary. He was looking to take the pace off the ball and trying to keep it outside the batter’s hitting arc. But that was enough for him to take the wicket of the off-colour left-hander Sam Curran, who returned to the team and batted at No. 3. Harshal followed that up with Brevis’ wicket but the biggest moment was yet to come.
After Shivam Dube, too, was dismissed soon after by left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, it was Patel’s turn to hog the limelight again. And that too at the cost of Chennai’s favourite son MS Dhoni.
A lot was riding on Dhoni, as he came on to bat at No. 8 in the 14th over. CSK diehards believed he would provide the final flourish, but the canny Patel was up for it.
He kept the ball wide and Dhoni’s slash was taken at point by Abhishek Sharma, who took four catches. In fact, the evening started with Abhishek taking his first in the first ball at slip, an edge off Shaik Rasheed’s bat, off Mohammed Shami.
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