The Super Kings, after having won the toss yet another time at home, decided to bat first against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Unlike the team that had batted first in the 4 PM match yesterday, CSK weren’t able to make 235 runs in the first innings. But they still managed to grab two points out of the match.
And why were they not able to score 235?
First, the slowness of the pitch at Chepauk hasn’t let any team score more than 160 runs this season.
Second, the humidity in Chennai. A total of 235 in such sultry conditions is unimaginable.
Third, CSK’s patchy batting effort on Sunday.
But the Super Kings managed to score a near-passable total of 157 runs at the end of twenty overs. And their opening batsman, Brendon McCullum, turned out to be the team’s primary run getter.
This time, 81 off 61 deliveries required an arduous effort. But McCullum had assessed the conditions well and curbed his natural instincts. It was a measured approach from the CSK opener. He occasionally hit the big ones. In spite of getting drained, he ran hard between the wickets to add extra runs to the total.
Chennai’s humid weather tested the man from New Zealand more than the Rajasthan bowling attack could. But McCullum stayed resolute.
Faf du Plessis once again played an anchor role after the loss of two early wickets. The McCullum-du Plessis partnership made sure that the gates to CSK’s struggling lower middle order weren’t opened early in the innings.
The cameos from skipper MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo at the end of the innings helped the team’s cause too.
Was 157 enough?
From the first six overs of the Rajasthan innings, it was evident that the Chepauk pitch had got slower. Dhoni is usually at his best when his team defends targets on such slow tracks. Almost everything he does works in favour of his team.
On Sunday evening, too, things weren’t any different.
Dhoni decided to give his opening bowlers, Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma, three overs each during the batting powerplay. The duo bowled a tight line and prevented Rajasthan from getting a flying start.
The Dhoni moment
The CSK’s spin attack was ready to take control. Negi, who was given the opportunity to bowl the first over after the powerplay, did a decent job.
Dhoni had to make one more bowling change. Spin from both the ends was expected. The skipper had two specialist spinners to choose from. One had been on top of his game in the past few months. He had proved to be the match winners on most occasions.
The other had struggled in the recent past, going wicketless for five continuous matches. He hadn’t been economical either.
Most captains would have given the ball to the in-form spinner. But only a few would have been surprised to see Ravindra Jadeja with the ball in his hand.
Jadeja was adjudged the man of the match for his phenomenal bowling figure of 4-0-11-4. Bowling with great control, he rarely gave the RR batsmen room to go for the big shots. No one saw that coming except Dhoni.
Mr Dependable
If Jadeja’s contribution was highly unexpected, Bravo’s was expected to be part of the plan. He has made it a habit to be part of game changing moments.
While the rest of the CSK unit had an unusually bad day in the field, Bravo stood out. His extraordinary catches to get rid of two danger men, Shane Watson and James Faulkner swung the game CSK’s way.
Take Faulkner’s case. Seeing Bravo standing at cover inside the thirty yard circle, he tried to loft the ball over him. Had he tried a different shot, maybe a scoop over the point fielder, he wouldn’t have perished. Adding to his fielding effort, Bravo claimed three wickets to become the new purple cap holder.
With some fine individual performances, CSK have given their home crowd a fitting farewell and have effectively secured a place in the playoffs.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
And why were they not able to score 235?
First, the slowness of the pitch at Chepauk hasn’t let any team score more than 160 runs this season.
Second, the humidity in Chennai. A total of 235 in such sultry conditions is unimaginable.
Third, CSK’s patchy batting effort on Sunday.
But the Super Kings managed to score a near-passable total of 157 runs at the end of twenty overs. And their opening batsman, Brendon McCullum, turned out to be the team’s primary run getter.
This time, 81 off 61 deliveries required an arduous effort. But McCullum had assessed the conditions well and curbed his natural instincts. It was a measured approach from the CSK opener. He occasionally hit the big ones. In spite of getting drained, he ran hard between the wickets to add extra runs to the total.
Chennai’s humid weather tested the man from New Zealand more than the Rajasthan bowling attack could. But McCullum stayed resolute.
Faf du Plessis once again played an anchor role after the loss of two early wickets. The McCullum-du Plessis partnership made sure that the gates to CSK’s struggling lower middle order weren’t opened early in the innings.
The cameos from skipper MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo at the end of the innings helped the team’s cause too.
Was 157 enough?
From the first six overs of the Rajasthan innings, it was evident that the Chepauk pitch had got slower. Dhoni is usually at his best when his team defends targets on such slow tracks. Almost everything he does works in favour of his team.
On Sunday evening, too, things weren’t any different.
Dhoni decided to give his opening bowlers, Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma, three overs each during the batting powerplay. The duo bowled a tight line and prevented Rajasthan from getting a flying start.
The Dhoni moment
The CSK’s spin attack was ready to take control. Negi, who was given the opportunity to bowl the first over after the powerplay, did a decent job.
Dhoni had to make one more bowling change. Spin from both the ends was expected. The skipper had two specialist spinners to choose from. One had been on top of his game in the past few months. He had proved to be the match winners on most occasions.
The other had struggled in the recent past, going wicketless for five continuous matches. He hadn’t been economical either.
Most captains would have given the ball to the in-form spinner. But only a few would have been surprised to see Ravindra Jadeja with the ball in his hand.
Jadeja was adjudged the man of the match for his phenomenal bowling figure of 4-0-11-4. Bowling with great control, he rarely gave the RR batsmen room to go for the big shots. No one saw that coming except Dhoni.
Mr Dependable
If Jadeja’s contribution was highly unexpected, Bravo’s was expected to be part of the plan. He has made it a habit to be part of game changing moments.
While the rest of the CSK unit had an unusually bad day in the field, Bravo stood out. His extraordinary catches to get rid of two danger men, Shane Watson and James Faulkner swung the game CSK’s way.
Take Faulkner’s case. Seeing Bravo standing at cover inside the thirty yard circle, he tried to loft the ball over him. Had he tried a different shot, maybe a scoop over the point fielder, he wouldn’t have perished. Adding to his fielding effort, Bravo claimed three wickets to become the new purple cap holder.
With some fine individual performances, CSK have given their home crowd a fitting farewell and have effectively secured a place in the playoffs.
