The boys from Chennai Super Kings have earned the license to chant their lighthearted, imprecation-laden victory tune one more time in their hotel room on Saturday night as they overpowered their opposition by a margin of 45 runs.
Eleven men from Hyderabad were expected to compete with 11 men from Chennai. But Sunrisers Hyderabad was completely disregarded at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.
As it played out, the battle on the field was between players from the same team, the Chennai Super Kings. In the first innings,the batsmen tried to outplay one another and the result was a mammoth first innings score of 209.
In the second innings, the bowlers from CSK wanted to know which one of them was better at deceiving the opposition batsmen and the result was a perplexed look on the faces of SRH batsmen. The fielders too were constantly trying to overshadow one another’s valiant efforts.
CSK openers: the unstopables
Consistent performances and attacking intent have always been the strong point of Chennai Super Kings’ opening batsmen. This time too, when their captain won the toss and wanted to bat, they unleashed carnage on a bowling attack that has been touted to be one of the best in the tournament.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who failed to get going against the Delhi Daredevils on Thursday, didn’t miss the opportunity to score fast and score big. He employed his usual tactic of dancing down the wicket against the fast bowlers and was successful too, unlike in the previous two attempts of his.
Opening bowlers Trent Boult and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled full length deliveries which tested the CSK openers at the start. But both McCullum and Smith were sensible enough to defend the good ones and punish the bad ones, thereby taking the score to 49-0 at the end of six overs.
Smith didn’t let the young leggie, Karn Sharma settle as he sent his first ball soaring over the ropes. Smith had trouble with his running and eventually ran himself out after Trent Boult hit the stumps directly.
Another run-out was effected this time by K. L. Rahul and Suresh Raina was sent back to the pavillion.
The Captain promotes himself
“I am still running, I am still fit,” said MS Dhoni when asked about his retirement. He justified his words when he promoted himself up the order and showed glimpses of his vintage self.
With an aggressive mindset from the word go, he smashed three humongous sixes off Karn Sharma’s over. He craved for more runs and almost deprived McCullum, who was batting at the other end, a chance to score his second IPL hundred.
Ravindra Jadeja sacrificed his wicket to let his mate reach three figures. McCullum didn’t disappoint as he made full use of Trent Boult’s last over and got to his hundred in the last ball.
Bowling unit impresses
SRH never had the momentum to chase the massive target, thanks to a spirited bowling performance by the CSK bowlers.
Dhoni employed a similar tactic of getting three overs each from Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma in the first six overs. Both the bowlers put up a decent performance in the first six overs, restricting the SRH batsmen to 46-2.
SRH batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and K. L. Rahul fell prey to the slower deliveries of Sharma.
Ashwin or Bravo, who deceived the batsmen better?
Going against the norm of spinners’ defensive T20 bowling, Ashwin attacked the SRH batsmen by bowling slower through the air. He preempted what the batsmen thought and kept tossing the ball. Bravo competed with Ashwin by bowling slow and hence deceived the SRH batsmen more often than not.
Both these bowlers strangled the run flow and knocked SRH out of the game.
CSK excelled in all the three departments of the game and have set a higher standard for themselves. If early signs are anything to go by, then the other teams in the tournament will get used to being beaten by the boys from Chennai.
CSK scored 209/4 in 20 overs, while SRH ended with 164/6 at the end of their 20 overs.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Eleven men from Hyderabad were expected to compete with 11 men from Chennai. But Sunrisers Hyderabad was completely disregarded at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.
As it played out, the battle on the field was between players from the same team, the Chennai Super Kings. In the first innings,the batsmen tried to outplay one another and the result was a mammoth first innings score of 209.
In the second innings, the bowlers from CSK wanted to know which one of them was better at deceiving the opposition batsmen and the result was a perplexed look on the faces of SRH batsmen. The fielders too were constantly trying to overshadow one another’s valiant efforts.
CSK openers: the unstopables
Consistent performances and attacking intent have always been the strong point of Chennai Super Kings’ opening batsmen. This time too, when their captain won the toss and wanted to bat, they unleashed carnage on a bowling attack that has been touted to be one of the best in the tournament.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who failed to get going against the Delhi Daredevils on Thursday, didn’t miss the opportunity to score fast and score big. He employed his usual tactic of dancing down the wicket against the fast bowlers and was successful too, unlike in the previous two attempts of his.
Opening bowlers Trent Boult and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled full length deliveries which tested the CSK openers at the start. But both McCullum and Smith were sensible enough to defend the good ones and punish the bad ones, thereby taking the score to 49-0 at the end of six overs.
Smith didn’t let the young leggie, Karn Sharma settle as he sent his first ball soaring over the ropes. Smith had trouble with his running and eventually ran himself out after Trent Boult hit the stumps directly.
Another run-out was effected this time by K. L. Rahul and Suresh Raina was sent back to the pavillion.
The Captain promotes himself
“I am still running, I am still fit,” said MS Dhoni when asked about his retirement. He justified his words when he promoted himself up the order and showed glimpses of his vintage self.
With an aggressive mindset from the word go, he smashed three humongous sixes off Karn Sharma’s over. He craved for more runs and almost deprived McCullum, who was batting at the other end, a chance to score his second IPL hundred.
Ravindra Jadeja sacrificed his wicket to let his mate reach three figures. McCullum didn’t disappoint as he made full use of Trent Boult’s last over and got to his hundred in the last ball.
Bowling unit impresses
SRH never had the momentum to chase the massive target, thanks to a spirited bowling performance by the CSK bowlers.
Dhoni employed a similar tactic of getting three overs each from Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma in the first six overs. Both the bowlers put up a decent performance in the first six overs, restricting the SRH batsmen to 46-2.
SRH batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and K. L. Rahul fell prey to the slower deliveries of Sharma.
Ashwin or Bravo, who deceived the batsmen better?
Going against the norm of spinners’ defensive T20 bowling, Ashwin attacked the SRH batsmen by bowling slower through the air. He preempted what the batsmen thought and kept tossing the ball. Bravo competed with Ashwin by bowling slow and hence deceived the SRH batsmen more often than not.
Both these bowlers strangled the run flow and knocked SRH out of the game.
CSK excelled in all the three departments of the game and have set a higher standard for themselves. If early signs are anything to go by, then the other teams in the tournament will get used to being beaten by the boys from Chennai.
CSK scored 209/4 in 20 overs, while SRH ended with 164/6 at the end of their 20 overs.
