Imagine MS Dhoni waking up on Sunday and telling his teammates that he had a bad dream in which they were handed a thrashing by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Oh yeah, the Super Kings would have been relieved if Saturday’s match were a bad dream. But unfortunately, the men in yellow had to face the intensity of the Sunrisers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, in reality.
Let down by their bowlers
Nothing worked out for the men in yellow. It was an all round poor show from the Super Kings. For instance, when MS Dhoni won the toss and sent SRH to bat first, he had said that the wicket would help the fast bowlers. Unfortunately the CSK bowlers didn’t let his captain feel happy about his decision at the toss.
We have often seen the CSK openers decide the fate of the match in the first six overs. This time though, the Super Kings were given a taste of their own medicine by the Warner-Dhawan combo.
Their opening bowler Mohit Sharma was greeted by a cracking pull off David Warner’s bat. He had bowled short and Warner was only too happy to put it away.
Warner obviously wanted more short balls, and Sharma was there to provide him with a constant supply. Sharma’s second over, which went for 22 runs, gave SRH the early momentum they had hoped for. Warner was rampant.
MS Dhoni didn’t want Mohit to leak more. More replaced Mohit. Warner wasn’t perturbed a bit. He went on smashing More. Shikhar Dhawan joined the party.
Boundaries were aplenty in the batting powerplay. The SRH batting card, at the end of six overs read 76-0.
A rare period of sluggish run scoring followed the powerplay overs. Suresh Raina was introduced into the attack. He got the big fish, David Warner, with the first ball of his second over. But the carnage continued as Moses Henriques, who was promoted up the batting order, smashed two sixes in the over.
CSK tried to claw back
Henriques’ cameo was ended by Pawan Negi as the Australian allrounder was stumped by Dhoni. Ravindra Jadeja’s sharp throw from deep midwicket ended Dhawan’s responsible innings.
CSK had the opportunity to exploit Hyderabad's misfiring middle order. Bravo did his best to do so. He didn’t let the SRH tail add more runs as he picked up three wickets while conceding only 25 runs off his four overs. But CSK weren’t able to dismiss Eoin Morgan, who hung in there and scored some vital runs in the end overs.
SRH bowlers: Too hot to handle
CSK needed heavy contributions from their top order, especially from their explosive openers, to chase down the target of 193. But. The SRH bowling attack looked confident. Their batsmen had given them enough to defend. Their bowlers used the game’s most effective weapon, the yorker, to full effect. The CSK batsmen never looked in control of the chase.
McCullum started off with a bang. He smashed three boundaries off his countrymate, Trent Boult’s over. But his brief show was cut short by SRH medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
After getting a good start, Dwayne Smith was not able to carry on. It was the same story with Suresh Raina.
Skipper Dhoni and Du Plessis tryied to rebuilt the innings. But SRH had the rub of green. The on-field umpire played his part in getting Du Plessis run out. MS Dhoni was once again undone by a low ball.
Bravo was the last hope. Jadeja, the man who did almost nothing in the match, paired with him. But it went completely out of reach after the SRH bowlers choked the CSK lower middle order with more yorkers.
CSK have now lost two consecutive matches. They haven’t won an away match this season. Inconsistency has seeped in. The lack of form of key players is haunting them.
It is becoming tough to understand Dhoni’s tactics. His persistence with Jadeja and Mohit Sharma is questionable. Someone please tell Dhoni that his squad has more than 13 members.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Oh yeah, the Super Kings would have been relieved if Saturday’s match were a bad dream. But unfortunately, the men in yellow had to face the intensity of the Sunrisers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, in reality.
Let down by their bowlers
Nothing worked out for the men in yellow. It was an all round poor show from the Super Kings. For instance, when MS Dhoni won the toss and sent SRH to bat first, he had said that the wicket would help the fast bowlers. Unfortunately the CSK bowlers didn’t let his captain feel happy about his decision at the toss.
We have often seen the CSK openers decide the fate of the match in the first six overs. This time though, the Super Kings were given a taste of their own medicine by the Warner-Dhawan combo.
Their opening bowler Mohit Sharma was greeted by a cracking pull off David Warner’s bat. He had bowled short and Warner was only too happy to put it away.
Warner obviously wanted more short balls, and Sharma was there to provide him with a constant supply. Sharma’s second over, which went for 22 runs, gave SRH the early momentum they had hoped for. Warner was rampant.
MS Dhoni didn’t want Mohit to leak more. More replaced Mohit. Warner wasn’t perturbed a bit. He went on smashing More. Shikhar Dhawan joined the party.
Boundaries were aplenty in the batting powerplay. The SRH batting card, at the end of six overs read 76-0.
A rare period of sluggish run scoring followed the powerplay overs. Suresh Raina was introduced into the attack. He got the big fish, David Warner, with the first ball of his second over. But the carnage continued as Moses Henriques, who was promoted up the batting order, smashed two sixes in the over.
CSK tried to claw back
Henriques’ cameo was ended by Pawan Negi as the Australian allrounder was stumped by Dhoni. Ravindra Jadeja’s sharp throw from deep midwicket ended Dhawan’s responsible innings.
CSK had the opportunity to exploit Hyderabad's misfiring middle order. Bravo did his best to do so. He didn’t let the SRH tail add more runs as he picked up three wickets while conceding only 25 runs off his four overs. But CSK weren’t able to dismiss Eoin Morgan, who hung in there and scored some vital runs in the end overs.
SRH bowlers: Too hot to handle
CSK needed heavy contributions from their top order, especially from their explosive openers, to chase down the target of 193. But. The SRH bowling attack looked confident. Their batsmen had given them enough to defend. Their bowlers used the game’s most effective weapon, the yorker, to full effect. The CSK batsmen never looked in control of the chase.
McCullum started off with a bang. He smashed three boundaries off his countrymate, Trent Boult’s over. But his brief show was cut short by SRH medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
After getting a good start, Dwayne Smith was not able to carry on. It was the same story with Suresh Raina.
Skipper Dhoni and Du Plessis tryied to rebuilt the innings. But SRH had the rub of green. The on-field umpire played his part in getting Du Plessis run out. MS Dhoni was once again undone by a low ball.
Bravo was the last hope. Jadeja, the man who did almost nothing in the match, paired with him. But it went completely out of reach after the SRH bowlers choked the CSK lower middle order with more yorkers.
CSK have now lost two consecutive matches. They haven’t won an away match this season. Inconsistency has seeped in. The lack of form of key players is haunting them.
It is becoming tough to understand Dhoni’s tactics. His persistence with Jadeja and Mohit Sharma is questionable. Someone please tell Dhoni that his squad has more than 13 members.
