Shane Watson ended his barren spell with a brutal knock as Chennai Super Kings returned to the top of the Indian Premier League with a six-wicket defeat of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Watson's place in the defending champions' side had been called into question due to his lack of runs at the top of the order, but the former Australia all-rounder was CSK's match-winner on Tuesday.

Manish Pandey made 83 not out from only 49 balls and David Warner (57 from 45) made a fifth consecutive half-century as Sunrisers posted 175-3 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Watson returned to form with a bang to set up a victory that put the Super Kings above Delhi Capitals at the summit, blasting 96 off just 53 deliveries and passing 8,000 Twenty20 runs in the process.

The powerful Watson struck six sixes and nine fours in his first half-century of the tournament and CSK got home with a ball to spare, two days after suffering a dramatic one-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

 

WARNER AND PANDEY PILE ON RUNS AFTER BAIRSTOW FAILURE

Jonny Bairstow has had an outstanding debut IPL season for Sunrisers, but the England wicketkeeper-batsman was unable to end his participation in the tournament on a high note.

The opener edged Harbhajan Singh through to MS Dhoni for a second-ball duck, but it was business as usual for Warner as he and Pandey put on 115 for the second wicket in 12 overs.

Warner - the leading run-scorer in the 2019 IPL - showed exquisite timing and power, clearing the ropes twice before he was stumped off Harbhajan in the 14th over.

Pandey had overtaken Warner by the time the Australian was dismissed and continued to attack the spinners, hitting three sixes and seven fours in a brilliant innings.

 

WATSON SILENCES THE CRITICS

The Super Kings' run chase got off to a bad start when Faf du Plessis was left shaking his head after being adjudged run out by the third umpire following a direct hit from Deepak Hooda.

CSK had only moved on to 27-1 after five overs, but Suresh Raina (38) added some impetus by taking 22 from the next over off Sandeep Sharma, who almost got Watson for 33 but Bairstow failed to cling on. 

Watson took centre stage after Rashid Khan saw the back of Raina, latching onto anything short as he delivered a barrage of boundaries before being caught behind attempting to hook Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

CSK needed only 13 from the last two overs to win but made hard work of it - Jadhav scampering through for a single after hitting the second ball from the last over from Sandeep into the crowd.