They have played five matches now and four of those have been last-over finishes. If Chennai Super Kings’ mere return to the Indian Premier League was meant to be the big talking point early on this year, their involvement in four thrillers has made it a truly blockbuster comeback.

They won with a ball left in their first two matches against Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, they lost by four runs against Kings XI Punjab and on Sunday, they won by four runs off the very final ball of the match at the den of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Here are the talking points from another thriller involving the men in yellow:

Rayudu steps up

Dwayne Bravo in the first match. Sam Billings in the second match. MS Dhoni in the third match. Shane Watson in the fourth match. And when things looked quite bleak in Hyderabad in their fifth match, CSK found another batting hero to step forward.

Ambati Rayudu played one of the innings of his lifetime at his home ground, to take CSK from 41/2 at the end of the ninth over to a score that was surely above par.

Rayudu’s innings was a classic case of playing to one’s strengths as he went about targetting areas of the ground that he was most comfortable clearing. A strong back-foot player, Rayudu cut and pulled with ease, while using that inside out lofted shot that he loves to great effect. When the CSK innings was headed nowhere, Rayudu provided the extra gear that took his side to a formidable position. It was perhaps fitting that he was run-out in the most bizarre fashion, because it didn’t seem likely that a Sunrisers’ bowler would actually dismiss him.

When the going got tough, CSK found another player who proved to be a tough nut to crack.

“Rayudu has been fantastic. I have always rated him highly,” gushed Dhoni after the match. “One of the questions was where do we play him? And I have seen him bat up the order at No. 3. Whenever he plays the big shots, he maintains shape, which is very important. He can bat at all numbers, but I’d prefer to see him opening, where he looks very dangerous.”

Classy Kane Williamson

No David Warner, because you-know-why. No Shikhar Dhawan, because of a blow to the elbow. Sunrisers’ batting was depleted as such and when they conceded 182 to Chennai after a poor second half with the ball, the pressure was all on Kane Williamson. And how did he respond? By promoting himself to the top of the order and playing an absolute blinder.

When you see a 51-ball 84 against most batsmen’s names around the world, you’d immediately associate brute-force and plenty of slogging. There are only a handful of batters who can achieve that score playing just proper cricket shots. Virat Kohli comes to the mind immediately, and not far away on that list would be Williamson.

Even as the rest of the top order was crumbling around him, Williamson played proper cricketing shots on what was a two-paced wicket. He cut and pulled the fast bowlers with purpose, he swept the spinners as well as using his feet against them to great effect. The fact that he hit five sixes compared to the six fours, was all down to how well he was timing the ball and nothing to do with power.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he got dismissed of the only false shot he played in his innings. ESPNCricinfo had his control percentage at over 90% and that in a steep run-chase, while losing partners regularly, is just a stunning example of classical batsmanship.

CSK and their Indian quicks

You simply have to hand it to the franchise for regularly unearthing uncapped Indian fast bowlers who do a job for the team with the new ball. Think back to Manpreet Gony, Mohit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Sudeep Tyagi and you’ll see one common thread: none of them (maybe with the exception of Mohit) went on to have great successes elsewhere in the IPL or with team India, but for CSK, they were more than worthy value additions. For a team that has built it’s legacy on good foreign batsmen at the top and bowlers, aided by an Indian middle-order and home-grown spinners, the Indian quicks were required to do a defensive job more often than not. And the names mentioned above, delivered more often than not for Dhoni in the past.

This time around the CSK captain has the services of Deepak Chahar to go with that of Shardul Thakur.

Chahar has consistently bowled a good line and length with the new ball in this IPL so far and his away swing has troubled most opening batsmen. On Sunday against SRH, he not only bowled good areas but also picked up three early wickets that jolted the home team’s already depleted top-order. By the time had taken his third wicket, he had conceded just one run. To bowl three overs in the powerplay, take three wickets and concede just seven runs is a mind-boggling effort and Chahar’s spell on Sunday was a just reward for his good start to the tournament this year.

Umpiring howler

You can never put down the result of an entire cricket match to one bad umpiring decision but if you were in the SRH dressing room on Sunday night, you’d be right to feel hard done by an absolute howler in the 17th over by umpire Vineet Kulkarni. With 52 required from 23 balls, Shardul bowled a full toss to Williamson that would have been called a no-ball 99 times out of 100. It was so evidently over the hip, that Williamson - the mildest-mannered of cricketers you’ll come across in world cricket - couldn’t quite believe was not given a no-ball. That the next ball was hit by six by Yusuf Pathan notwithstanding, that’s an extra run and a extra ball that Sunrisers were robbed off and in a match that went down to the very last ball, one cannot help but wonder if the umpiring howler cost the hosts the game.

The umpiring in this IPL has already come under the scanner and Kulkarni did not do himself any favour. It’s time the league looked into the standards set by the local umpires, for this was not the first time (and something tells us, not the last) that an Indian official was found wanting this year.