M.S. Dhoni wins the first match of captaincy return as Ruturaj Gaikwad hammers 99

Ruturaj Gaikwad was particularly merciless on the entire Hyderabad bowling unit as he smashed 99 off of 57 balls but fell short of just one run on a well deserved century. Gaikwad was assisted by David Conway's 85 off 55 balls, as both the player's heroics took Chennai Super King's score just north of 200 runs. 

In reply, Sunrisers Hyderabad set up a great opening partnership with Nicholas Pooran clobbering boundaries in the end. However, it went in vain as Hyderabad's batting order crumbled in the death overs, leading to a 13 runs win for their opponent.

Ruturaj Gaikwad & David Conway's record-breaking partnership takes Chennai Super Kings' over the 200-runs mark.

Chennai Super Kings lost the toss and were sent in to bat first. Ruturaj Gaikwad and David Conway opened for their side and started their innings on a careful note.

Chennai Super Kings reached 40 runs in the power play overs, and then both the batsmen changed their ways and took an aggressive stance.

Anyone who came to bowl was sent over the fence on one ball or the next. Gaikwad was exceptionally effortless with his shots as he hammered short and full-length deliveries. 

Hyderabad's dark horse tried his best to get a breakthrough and increased his pace to bowl the fastest tournament delivery at 154 km/h. However, that had little to no effect on the in-zone batsman as he smashed for two more boundaries in the 10th over, with Gaikwad scoring his half-century in 33 balls.

Then Gaikwad hit two consecutive boundaries off Markram's delivery in the 11th over to pull up Chennai's 100.

Shortly after, Conway also brought up his fifty in 39 balls as he ended the 15th over with two boundaries. 

Gaikwad was en route to his century; however, he missed by just one run as he gave a catch to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who also didn't celebrate the 25-year-old's sad dismissal. The opening partnership ended at an exhilarating 182 runs, the highest opening partnership of the season.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most economically sound bowler for Sunrisers Hyderabad, whereas only Natarajan could scalp wickets for his side.

Sunrisers Hyderabad falls short of 13 runs. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad started their innings with brilliance as openers Kane Williamson kept smashing boundaries in the power play overs. Hyderabad was on their way to crossing 60 runs in the first six overs. 

However, Mukesh Choudhary came to rescue Chennai and took two wickets in 2 balls. Sending the dangerous-looking Abhishek Sharma at 39 off 24 balls and Rahul Tripathi on a golden duck back to the dugout, leaving Hyderabad at 58/2.

In reply, SRH fell short, reaching 189 for 6 in 20 overs despite late heroics from Nicholas Pooran (64 not out) and a 47-run innings by skipper Kane Williamson at the top.

Aiden Markram then joined Williamson, anchoring the innings after two back-to-back blows. Markram, however, chose fireworks over a steady partnership and hit two sixes before falling prey to Mitchell Santner in the 10th over.

Nicholas Pooran tried his best to take Hyderabad home after Williamson's dismissal at 47 off 37 balls in the 15th over. 

Pooran hammered 64 runs off of just 33 balls, but he had no one to reciprocate the same from the other end as the asking rate went up in the death overs as Hyderabad kept bleeding wickets.