Chennai openers put Sunrisers Hyderabad to the sword

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway shared an opening stand worth 182 runs after Kane Williamson had won the toss and opted to chase

Pune: Chennai Super Kings 202-2, Sunrisers Hyderabad 189-6 - Chennai Super Kings win by 13 runs

Scorecard

Ruturaj Gaikwad fell one run short of a fine hundred as Chennai Super Kings – with MS Dhoni back as captain – beat Sunrisers Hyderabad to give the strugglers their third win of the season.

Dhoni returned to the helm on Saturday after Ravindra Jadeja stepped down from the role, and the former India skipper was given the perfect start back in his old job as Gaikwad and Devon Conway shared an opening stand worth 182 runs after Kane Williamson had won the toss and opted to chase.

The pair began slowly but accelerated as the innings progressed, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceding just 22 runs from his four overs.

Conway, the New Zealand left-hander, was the slower of the duo, hitting four sixes in his 55-balll knock and batting through the innings for an unbeaten 85.

Umran Malik bowled the quickest ball of the tournament, but Gaikwad still managed to force it to the boundary. When he departed, there were still 13 balls in CSK's innings remaining, and Sunrisers had been hindered by a hand injury to Washington Sundar before the off-spinner had even entered the attack, forcing Williamson to be creative with his fifth bowling option.

^{MS Dhoni is back as captain of Chennai Super Kings (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)}

In response, Hyderabad gave it a good go: Williamson anchored the chase with 47, while Abhishek Sharma was the aggressor in their opening partnership, making 39 off just 24 deliveries. But when he was dismissed, Rahul Tripathi followed a ball later, and Mukesh Choudhary had taken wickets in successive deliveries.

Aiden Markram, expensive with the ball, added 17 in 10 balls, but it was left to Nicholas Pooran to take his side close.

The West Indies left-hander played beautifully for 64 – unbeaten in 33 balls – but once Williamson was lbw to Dwaine Pretorius, Chennai – without Dwayne Bravo – were able to squeeze over the line by 13 runs, with Sunrisers left needing 50 off the last two overs, too tall an order even for Pooran.