The stakes were high for both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The winner of the contest would not only confirm a place in the playoffs, but also inch towards sealing a top-two finish.
Batting breakdown
But the Rajasthan batting came a-cropper. They had the arsenal to chase down the target, but the fireworks didn’t go off. The bowlers had done their job. Restricting CSK to 157 on any pitch is no easy achievement.
In such situations, the orange of Ajinkya Rahane’s cap ceases to hold significance. Nor do the reputations of Shane Watson, Steve Smith and James Faulkner matter. And Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Deepak Hooda are performers, but on paper.
Given that it was the seventh match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the Royals had a clear picture on how the surface would have played. But the batting needs to buck up so that entry to the playoffs is not threatened.
Rahane and Watson got some sort of start, and so did Samson. But with a deep batting line-up, a lot more was expected. And MS Dhoni didn’t even have to use the services of spin spearhead R Ashwin.
Ravindra Jadeja was woefully out of form ahead of this game, but Rajasthan failed to exploit that and succumbed to his spin. Nor could they cash in on the loads of dropped catches by the normally reliable CSK fielders, among them Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum.
Agreed, batting second is not easy in this surface. But considering the target, it was not a Herculean task. A win on Sunday would have done Rajasthan Royals a world of good to their confidence. But now they need to go back to the drawing board before their last league match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Good move
It was a masterstroke to give Smith the captaincy of the team, to help Watson focus only on his all-rounder duties. Smith, groomed for Australia captaincy, has been enjoying a golden summer. His form has been going from strength to strength, and his captaincy is redolent with tactical genius.
Watson will be thankful a huge burden has been taken off his shoulders. Their style of functioning is vividly different too. Watson is more subdued on the field, while the effervescent Smith puts his restlessness to good use, improvising with constant field changes, shuffling of bowlers and general encouragement.
Smith led the Royals to victory in all thoe four matches that Watson missed at the beginning of the tournament. That head start has allowed the Royals to be in the upper half of the table despite a few hiccups and a couple of washed-out games.
The bowling blueprint
Rajasthan seemed to have a blueprint in place to tackle the Super Kings, who have been indomitable at home. It was a familiar situation, just like against Mumbai Indians a couple of nights ago, when the Super Kings elected to bat first.
Smith was prepared with a plan for each batsmen. He introduced left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma and snared Dwayne Smith early. The opener has been susceptible against the slower bowlers. The opening act for the Chennai team has been their biggest, and Rajasthan snatched the momentum by breaking the McCullum-Smith stand early.
Then Suresh Raina was set up for the short ball. Even though the southpaw has worked on his technique on the rising delivery, it can still catch him off-guard. Keeping a short leg in place and employing the tall pacer Chris Morris kept Raina on his toes. The bluff worked as Raina never faced a short one but instead holed out to mid-off. Morris has been dangerous with the new cherry, striking regularly.
The wicket at Chepauk slows down in the second half of the match. And it was essential that the Royals restricted the home team as much as possible. Negotiating the swing of Ashish Nehra and spin of R Ashwin has been quite a challenge in Chennai.
Barring a few instances of loose bowling, Rajasthan kept the marauding Chennai line-up at bay. The humidity levels at the MA Chidambaram Stadium also kept McCullum & Co. uncomfortable.
Rajasthan never allowed CSK’s dormant batting volcano to erupt. They were comparatively frugal in the death overs after scalping wickets at regular intervals.
There is one home game in hand, and some time to reconfigure plans. The Royals should be back to winnings ways – it is not beyond them.
Chennai Super Kings (157 for 5) beat Rajasthan Royals (145 for 9) by 12 runs.
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Batting breakdown
But the Rajasthan batting came a-cropper. They had the arsenal to chase down the target, but the fireworks didn’t go off. The bowlers had done their job. Restricting CSK to 157 on any pitch is no easy achievement.
In such situations, the orange of Ajinkya Rahane’s cap ceases to hold significance. Nor do the reputations of Shane Watson, Steve Smith and James Faulkner matter. And Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Deepak Hooda are performers, but on paper.
Given that it was the seventh match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the Royals had a clear picture on how the surface would have played. But the batting needs to buck up so that entry to the playoffs is not threatened.
Rahane and Watson got some sort of start, and so did Samson. But with a deep batting line-up, a lot more was expected. And MS Dhoni didn’t even have to use the services of spin spearhead R Ashwin.
Ravindra Jadeja was woefully out of form ahead of this game, but Rajasthan failed to exploit that and succumbed to his spin. Nor could they cash in on the loads of dropped catches by the normally reliable CSK fielders, among them Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum.
Agreed, batting second is not easy in this surface. But considering the target, it was not a Herculean task. A win on Sunday would have done Rajasthan Royals a world of good to their confidence. But now they need to go back to the drawing board before their last league match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Good move
It was a masterstroke to give Smith the captaincy of the team, to help Watson focus only on his all-rounder duties. Smith, groomed for Australia captaincy, has been enjoying a golden summer. His form has been going from strength to strength, and his captaincy is redolent with tactical genius.
Watson will be thankful a huge burden has been taken off his shoulders. Their style of functioning is vividly different too. Watson is more subdued on the field, while the effervescent Smith puts his restlessness to good use, improvising with constant field changes, shuffling of bowlers and general encouragement.
Smith led the Royals to victory in all thoe four matches that Watson missed at the beginning of the tournament. That head start has allowed the Royals to be in the upper half of the table despite a few hiccups and a couple of washed-out games.
The bowling blueprint
Rajasthan seemed to have a blueprint in place to tackle the Super Kings, who have been indomitable at home. It was a familiar situation, just like against Mumbai Indians a couple of nights ago, when the Super Kings elected to bat first.
Smith was prepared with a plan for each batsmen. He introduced left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma and snared Dwayne Smith early. The opener has been susceptible against the slower bowlers. The opening act for the Chennai team has been their biggest, and Rajasthan snatched the momentum by breaking the McCullum-Smith stand early.
Then Suresh Raina was set up for the short ball. Even though the southpaw has worked on his technique on the rising delivery, it can still catch him off-guard. Keeping a short leg in place and employing the tall pacer Chris Morris kept Raina on his toes. The bluff worked as Raina never faced a short one but instead holed out to mid-off. Morris has been dangerous with the new cherry, striking regularly.
The wicket at Chepauk slows down in the second half of the match. And it was essential that the Royals restricted the home team as much as possible. Negotiating the swing of Ashish Nehra and spin of R Ashwin has been quite a challenge in Chennai.
Barring a few instances of loose bowling, Rajasthan kept the marauding Chennai line-up at bay. The humidity levels at the MA Chidambaram Stadium also kept McCullum & Co. uncomfortable.
Rajasthan never allowed CSK’s dormant batting volcano to erupt. They were comparatively frugal in the death overs after scalping wickets at regular intervals.
There is one home game in hand, and some time to reconfigure plans. The Royals should be back to winnings ways – it is not beyond them.
Chennai Super Kings (157 for 5) beat Rajasthan Royals (145 for 9) by 12 runs.
