Super Kings Ride On Watto Power To Wrest Top Spot

Dhoni’s men almost assured of a playoff berth; Pandey’s brilliant, unbeaten 83 and Warner’s fifty prove inadequate for Sunrisers

- S. Dipak Ragav

Stephen Fleming’s mantra as coach of Chennai Super Kings has been ‘consistency in selection’. And it was hard to argue with that after Tuesday’s game when an out-ofform Shane Watson repaid the faith with a match-winning knock of 96 (53b, 9x4, 6x6) as the home side defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets to maintain its unbeaten run at the MAC Stadium this season.

Chasing 176 for victory, Watson and Suresh Raina, who too has been struggling this season, struck form to help Super Kings post their eighth win. This should help them secure a playoffberth.

Maiden over

Watson, similar to what he did in the final against the same team last year, started offslowly, even playing out a maiden in the first over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He showed how dangerous he could be as he pummelled the Sunrisers bowlers all over the park.