SRH Vs CSK, IPL 2024, Match 18: Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram Steer Sunrisers Hyderabad To A Six-Wicket Win - As It Happened

Pat Cummins has won the toss for SRH and opted to field against CSK. Here's what he said, "We'll bowl first. Looks like a good wicket and should stay the same for the whole match. We've got a great squad. Mayank Agarwal is unwell, he's replaced by Nitish Reddy. Last time, there were 500 runs scored, this looks like a good wicket as well."

It's going pretty well, the group is responding well. Nothing much changes for me, obviously this is a new challenge, but I'm feeling good. Pathirana is slightly ill - three changes for us, Moeen Ali,Theekshana and Mukesh Chowdhary come in. The bowlers are ready to go and so are the youngsters.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Jaydev Unadkat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan.

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana.

Rachin Ravindra (12) has departed early, thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as Chennai Super Kings have been dealt an early blow.

Rachin Ravindra's wicket has really been a hammer-blow for CSK, who have got on to a slow start against SRH. However, Ruturaj Gaikwad is joined by Ajinkya Rahane, as the duo will look to give their team a platform to build on against a lethal SRH attack.

The departure of their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (26) was a vital blow but the arrival of Shivam Dube has been a sign of attacking display. SRH tried to quieten things in the middle overs but Dube's aggressive batting has put their spinners on the back-foot.

With the wicket of Shivam Dube, SRH struck another major blow to CSK but the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja could swing the fortunes for the five-time champions.

Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane and Ruturaj Gaikwad steered Chennai Super Kings to a commendable 165/5 in 20 overs. Much of the credit should go to SRH bowlers, who bowled neat and tidy lines and gave little away to the CSK batters. After the departure of Dube, SRH bowlers held firm and have done brilliantly to keep the five-time champs below 180.

To be honest, I don't see much difference in the pitch compared to the last game, but we kept bowling the hard lengths, we varied our pace and bowled with plenty of variations. It was one of those days when the ball went straight to the fielders and there were fewer boundaries conceded. It's about getting the momentum right, if we get runs during the batting PP, we'll go a long way in chasing this score down.

A blistering innings of 37 off mere 12 balls for Abhishek Sharma, who has hammered CSK bowlers to all corners of the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. Alas, Deepak Chahar had the last laugh as he dismissed the southpaw.

Abhishek Sharma's blitzy innings has given the Sunrisers a fast start in Hyderabad. The one-time champs are 64/1 inside five overs, with Travis Head and Aiden Markram at the crease.

Despite the wicket of Travis Head (31), SRH are well within the grasp of reaching the target of 166 against CSK in Hyderabad. Aiden Markram and Shabhaz Ahmed look solid at the crease and look to finish things off quickly for the home team.

With 7 wickets in hand, one must say that SRH are favourites to win from here but don't discount CSK just yet. However, for that, they need to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen, who has just arrived at the crease after the fall of Aiden Markram (50).

Sunrisers Hyderabad's formidable home form keeps going strong. After beating five-time champions Mumbai Indians, they have rolled over defending champs, Chennai Super Kings by six wickets. A victory that started with the bowlers and then moved to Abhishek Sharma's blitzkrieg and ended with Aiden Markram's half-century.

CSK - 165/5 (20 Overs)

SRH - 166/4 (18.1 Overs)

It was a slow pitch. At the back end they bowled well. We couldn't capitalise in the last five overs. We were in a good situation halfway but they bowled well at the back. It was a black soil pitch, so we expected the slowness. As the ball got older, it got slower. They used the conditions well, big boundary at one end. We did not bowl well in the PowerPlay but did well to drag the game. 170-175 was par. If we would have had a good PowerPlay with the ball, we could have had the game. There was slight dew at the later stage. Moeen was spinning the ball in the 15th-16th over, so not much of a difference.

(The pitch) Not too bad, but not like it was against Mumbai. When we bowled, the first ten overs or so, it was coming on alright but got tougher. So we took on in the first ten and were in a good position later. I don't want to think too much, probably see-ball, hit-ball. That is encouraged by the team management and Patty. When you get in, the batter that is in needs to value the position. The Impact Player has freed batters.

Different soil. Slowed up a little bit as the game went on. Shivam was hitting it well against the spin. Thought we'll take chance with off-cutters. First thing is always to get the points. Wouldn't want to be bowling to him (Abhishek) and Trav Head at the top. Crowd was crazy tonight. When MS walked out, it was as loud as I've ever heard.

In the bowling we felt it's a bit slow wicket. We knew if we take the powerplay on, we can go with the flow after that. We had a chance to prepare well before this IPL. Big scores do matter (individual scores), but I went with the flow today. Special thanks to Yuvi paaji, Brian Lara and my dad for this (Award).

CSK lose another game on the road whereas SRH continue their formidable home form. IPL 2024 is a gift that keeps giving. Tomorrow is RR vs RCB, till then it's adios from us.