The 33rd match of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League was not a classic by any stretch of imagination but it was one that saw many a streak end.
For the first time since 2010 and after 121 continuous appearances, Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not feature in an IPL game played by Chennai Super Kings. After losing all four matches in the 2018 edition (including the final), Sunrisers Hyderabad finally managed to defeat the men in yellow at the fifth time of asking.
But if one was expecting a good game of cricket, this was not it. Despite the contrasting fortunes of the sides coming into the match, Kane Williamson and Co blew the defending champions away in Hyderabad.
CSK missed Dhoni
And water is wet. Of course, CSK missed Dhoni. That is not rocket science. But how exactly CSK missed Dhoni provides an insight into their batting troubles this season.
More than just intangibles that were thrown around by the pundits in the studio after the match (leadership, experience, calmness under pressure etc), there was one area where the defending champions missed their commander-in-chief.
Sample this:
CSK’s innings progression against SRH:
Overs 1-10: 80/1
Overs 11-15: 22/5
Overs 16-20: 30/0
In Hyderabad, the openers finally clicked — this was the season’s best first wicket stand for CSK. Faf du Plessis was the aggressor while Shane Watson hit the occasional boundary, to keep the run-rate up, all the while finding his timing.
But from overs 11 to 15, CSK completely lost their way, losing wickets in a heap and putting themselves under pressure. Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja had to resort to extreme defensiveness to arrest the collapse but that resulted in a bizarre finish to the game when they managed to score just run-a-ball in the last five overs.
And CSK’s batting was left exposed at the backend without Dhoni, who has bailed them out repeatedly this season. He did it twice against the Royals, batting first once and while chasing in Jaipur. He made the difference between a par score and a match-winning one against Kings XI Punjab in Chennai.
He did not quite play a match-defining innings against KKR at Eden Gardens, but accelerated earlier than he usually does to provide the run-chase some spark. And on all occasions, the top order had not done enough (barring the odd important contribution like du Plessis’ half century against KXIP).
Now, on a difficult pitch, Dhoni might not have been the solution. But he would have certainly not allowed the collapse to extend as long as it did and if he got through it, CSK would not have finished the innings with 30 runs in the last five overs.
Rashid delivers
If SRH had to end the losing streak against CSK, their main man had to come up with the goods. And the Afghanistan superstar did just that. On a pitch that had turn and bounce, Rashid enjoyed letting his legspinners (of which he has six different varieties) and googlies rip, finishing with figures of 2/17 in four overs. That the two wickets came in one over and sent back Suresh Raina and Kedar Jadhav was the main reason behind CSK’s sub-par total.
The CSK middle order was especially brutal against Rashid in the league stage last season (Rayudu and Raina being the enforcers) before the leg-spinner earned his respect in the two playoff games (figures of 2/11 and 1/24). When the battle resumed between Rashid and CSK’s middle order in Hyderabad on Wednesday, there was only one winner.
He later said how the pitch, being used for the first time this season, played to his strengths. But it was also a performance that reminded everyone that he might not be the same wicket-taking force because teams are willing to play him out, but give him an inch and he’ll mark his territory.
Warner’s blitzkrieg
After a blistering start to the season, David Warner had just gone off the boil for Sunrisers. His fantastic century against RCB was followed by scores of 10 and 15 against Delhi and Mumbai. In the next two matches, he made un-Warner-esque half centuries — a 70* against KXIP at a strike rate of 113 and 51 against Delhi at 108.5. These are not numbers you associate with Warner but the middle order’s vulnerabilities forced him to change his approach. The results? Not in favour of his side, as they had lost three on the trot.
Now, a target of 133 was never going to challenge a good batting unit, but Sunrisers were coming into this match on the back of an incredible collapse against Delhi — a wicket in the powerplay for CSK could yet cause problems for the men in orange.
The wicket of Warner did come in the powerplay for Deepak Chahar, but by then, the scoreboard read 66/1 and Warner had made 50 off 25 balls. Not taking any chances with a low target, Warner knew that he had to go hard at the CSK seamers before the spinners started exerting control. And he did that in ruthless fashion. Before the ball he got out, his scoring sequence was: 4 4 1 0 1 0 4 4 4 4 4 1 0 4 4. He simply took the game away from Chennai before they could even figure out a way to stop him.
The impact of the Warner innings was felt when, Imran Tahir finished his spell with 2/20 in 4 overs. The South African spinner was near unplayable for the Sunrisers’ batsmen and if only CSK had more runs on the board for him to work with... the result might have been different. As it turned out, the Warner blitz did all the damage in the powerplay, before Raina and CSK realised what had hit them.