If you had seen the scorecard of Tuesday’s match, you probably wouldn’t have been able to say which team among the two had topped the table and which had been uninspiring, for the team that had been nightmarish this season, the Delhi Daredevils, pulled off an upset over the top ranked Chennai Super Kings.
Unlike the previous encounter between these two teams, there was only one team that tried hard to lose on Tuesday evening in Raipur. And to everyone’s surprise it was the men in yellow.
Lacklustre batting display
As a skipper, you don’t want your opening batsmen to score at the rate of three runs per over after opting to bat first in a T20 match. Unfortunately, Dhoni witnessed his opening batsmen struggle against a top-notch bowling performance from Delhi Daredevils opening bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem. Both the bowlers bowled a consistent line to deprive the CSK openers of boundaries.
McCullum was cramped for room and was finding it highly difficult to find the sweet spot of his bat. He danced down the wicket with no success. He tried to slap balls through the gaps, but kept finding the Daredevils fielders. As a result of frustration, he even made a futile attempt to scoop one over the keeper's head.
When you don’t give enough scoring opportunities to players like McCullum, what happens? They tend to play an impetuous shot and throw away their wicket.
On the other hand, Dwayne Smith continued his poor run. He played out nine dot balls before opening his account. CSK eventually were knocked out of the match in the first six overs as they made only 16 runs at the end of the batting powerplay.
Also, they weren’t able to repair the early damage done by the DD bowlers. Suresh Raina, failed once again. Du Plessis and Dhoni were looking to rebuild. But, the South African dragged one onto his stumps, thereby dashing the hopes of a competitive target.
MS Dhoni got a few boundaries in the end but didn’t make a considerable contribution. CSK’s lower middle order had consistently failed throughout this season and on Tuesday night too their case was no different.
A lacklustre batting display from the Chennai Super Kings saw them get a innocuous total of 119 runs at the end of 20 overs.
Bowlers couldn’t do much
Things didn’t change when the men in yellow took the field in the second innings. Their bowling attack never looked threatening. CSK bowlers lacked the consistency their opposition bowlers had. Ishwar Pandey bowled a good opening spell. But he wasn’t supported by the second opening bowler, Mohit Sharma.
CSK’s spinners were below par on Tuesday night. They didn’t bowl the right length and eventually failed to exploit the conditions.
Shreyas Iyer rode on his sublime form and single-handedly took the game away from the Super Kings. He kept the scoreboard ticking and kept scoring boundaries almost every over. On a pitch where every other batsmen struggled, Iyer scored with ease. Even the most experienced CSK spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin had no answers to Iyer’s masterclass.
A worn-out unit?
Super Kings, in the last few matches, haven’t looked like a champion side. The big margin of defeat against the Delhi Daredevils must hurt them quite badly.
Is too much cricket affecting them? The men in yellow are wearing an exhausted look. Most of their players seem to be lacking energy on the field. After all, MS Dhoni has went ahead and played with almost the same playing eleven in all the matches.
For instance, Dwayne Smith’s listless efforts on the field and with the bat tells us the story. Mohit Sharma has also lacked the intensity he had at the start of the tournament. The same is the case with other CSK players which includes the captain himself.
The team has very little time to make amends. Will Dhoni be willing to experiment at this stage? Can he afford to test the bench strength at this moment? Dhoni’s dogged determination to play the same eleven might cost him the trophy.
LWLWLLW (L = Loss, W = Win) is not the ideal recent form to have when your team is just a game away from the playoffs.
Delhi Daredevils (120/4 in 16.4 overs) beat Chennai Super Kings (119/6 in 20 overs) by six wickets.
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Unlike the previous encounter between these two teams, there was only one team that tried hard to lose on Tuesday evening in Raipur. And to everyone’s surprise it was the men in yellow.
Lacklustre batting display
As a skipper, you don’t want your opening batsmen to score at the rate of three runs per over after opting to bat first in a T20 match. Unfortunately, Dhoni witnessed his opening batsmen struggle against a top-notch bowling performance from Delhi Daredevils opening bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem. Both the bowlers bowled a consistent line to deprive the CSK openers of boundaries.
McCullum was cramped for room and was finding it highly difficult to find the sweet spot of his bat. He danced down the wicket with no success. He tried to slap balls through the gaps, but kept finding the Daredevils fielders. As a result of frustration, he even made a futile attempt to scoop one over the keeper's head.
When you don’t give enough scoring opportunities to players like McCullum, what happens? They tend to play an impetuous shot and throw away their wicket.
On the other hand, Dwayne Smith continued his poor run. He played out nine dot balls before opening his account. CSK eventually were knocked out of the match in the first six overs as they made only 16 runs at the end of the batting powerplay.
Also, they weren’t able to repair the early damage done by the DD bowlers. Suresh Raina, failed once again. Du Plessis and Dhoni were looking to rebuild. But, the South African dragged one onto his stumps, thereby dashing the hopes of a competitive target.
MS Dhoni got a few boundaries in the end but didn’t make a considerable contribution. CSK’s lower middle order had consistently failed throughout this season and on Tuesday night too their case was no different.
A lacklustre batting display from the Chennai Super Kings saw them get a innocuous total of 119 runs at the end of 20 overs.
Bowlers couldn’t do much
Things didn’t change when the men in yellow took the field in the second innings. Their bowling attack never looked threatening. CSK bowlers lacked the consistency their opposition bowlers had. Ishwar Pandey bowled a good opening spell. But he wasn’t supported by the second opening bowler, Mohit Sharma.
CSK’s spinners were below par on Tuesday night. They didn’t bowl the right length and eventually failed to exploit the conditions.
Shreyas Iyer rode on his sublime form and single-handedly took the game away from the Super Kings. He kept the scoreboard ticking and kept scoring boundaries almost every over. On a pitch where every other batsmen struggled, Iyer scored with ease. Even the most experienced CSK spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin had no answers to Iyer’s masterclass.
A worn-out unit?
Super Kings, in the last few matches, haven’t looked like a champion side. The big margin of defeat against the Delhi Daredevils must hurt them quite badly.
Is too much cricket affecting them? The men in yellow are wearing an exhausted look. Most of their players seem to be lacking energy on the field. After all, MS Dhoni has went ahead and played with almost the same playing eleven in all the matches.
For instance, Dwayne Smith’s listless efforts on the field and with the bat tells us the story. Mohit Sharma has also lacked the intensity he had at the start of the tournament. The same is the case with other CSK players which includes the captain himself.
The team has very little time to make amends. Will Dhoni be willing to experiment at this stage? Can he afford to test the bench strength at this moment? Dhoni’s dogged determination to play the same eleven might cost him the trophy.
LWLWLLW (L = Loss, W = Win) is not the ideal recent form to have when your team is just a game away from the playoffs.
Delhi Daredevils (120/4 in 16.4 overs) beat Chennai Super Kings (119/6 in 20 overs) by six wickets.
