IPL 2018: Raina, Rayudu's half-centuries lift Chennai to 182

Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina slammed a half-century each to help Chennai set a decent target against Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 on Saturday.

Raydu slammed a powerful 37-ball 79 while Raina made 54 runs off 43 balls to lift Chennai to 182 runs after a loss of three wickets.

Raydu got run-out in a dramatic turn of event on the ground while Raina remained unbeaten.

Chennai Skipper MS Dhoni too contributed crucial 25 runs off just 12 balls.

Earlier, Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl in their clash against Chennai at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Playing at their home ground, Hyderabad will look to regain the winning momentum. After winning three matches in a row, Hyderabad tasted their first defeat in this year's IPL from Punjab.

However, in today's game Hyderabad entered the ground without Shikhar Dhawan.  

Speaking after the toss, Kane said, "We'll bowl. Not a strong advantage as the wicket remains similar generally. They have a strong batting line-up, the Chennai side so it's important we do the job first up."

"Billy Stanlake comes in for CJ and Ricky Bhui makes his debut, comes in for Shikhar. He (Dhawan) adds to any team so his inclusion would be good. It's a good chance for Ricky who's an exciting young talent. Think Shikhar will be ready for the next match. It's always a tough game. We'll play at the best of our ability and I am sure it'll be another good game," he added.

Meanwhile, Chennai skipper MS Dhoni said, "So far so good. It's not like we are relying on one individual. Everyone has contributed when it comes to bowling or batting. We always want the whole team to contribute so that there's not much pressure on one individual."

"It's always important that's why you are playing a team sport. The job of every individual becomes easy. What is important is someone soaks up the pressure. Imran Tahir is not fit so Faf comes his place."

Teams:

Chennai (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Billings, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur

Hyderabad (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson (c), Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Billy Stanlake, Siddarth Kaul