Leading the victory march was captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was two short of scoring centuries in successive IPL games. Ruturaj Gaikwad (98 off 54) a 107-run stand (64 balls) with Daryl Mitchell, the big-money acquisition who finally found his scoring touch in a quickfire 32-ball 52. After posting 212, CSK then produced a shrewd bowling display led by Tushar Deshpande’s 4 for 27 to leave SRH winless in five attempts at Chepauk.
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring around about a hundred, Shivam Dube pushing them over 200… But then it changed in the second innings. CSK must have figured they had got done in by excessive dew, a special innings from Marcus Stoinis and some ordinary fielding from themselves the other night, a combination of events that won’t be repeated every night.
Pitch and Toss
“Slightly shorter on one side but it shouldn’t make much of a difference. Down the ground, the shots need to be well timed. It looks a bit dry. Some aberrations here, traditionally teams that have batted first have succeeded but not this season. Spinners haven’t had a significant part in this season either as has been the case previously. It looks very dry, there’s a mosaic underlay and there isn’t really a sheen that you have come to expect in this year’s IPL. Same surface that was used in that game against GT where CSK scored over 200 runs.
This pitch produces the greatest degree of turn, 2.4 degrees as compared 1,8 degrees compared to the other pitches. Still think there will be some assistance for the spinners and for those who can bowl slower delivers but there’s still runs on the board. Might just want to have couple of extra overs of spin up your sleeve. There might be significant dew later in the evening” say Anjum Chopra and Samuel Badree.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and surprisingly chose to bowl first. SRH made one change in the squad bringing in an extra batter Anmol Preet Singh for Mayank Markande. Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad batting first made no changes in their playing XI.
Ruturaj Gaikwad propels CSK through the powerplay
Ruturaj Gaikwad lost an eighth toss from nine games this season and that meant CSK had to dew proof their score. Their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was up for the task, scoring 33 off the 17 balls he faced, hitting six crisp boundaries. However, the other end, between them, Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell managed only 17 off 19. Rahane’s troubled second season for CSK was exacerbated by him falling for the seventh time to Bhuvneshwar Kumar while Mitchell managed only 6 off the 7 balls he faced under the fielding restrictions.
The CSK openers made only one boundary attempt in the first two overs, and then gradually pushed up, largely thanks to expert gap-finding by Ruturaj Gaikwad. The first eight overs brought CSK just 67 runs, out of which Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 44 off 25 with seven fours.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mitchell up the ante as CSK cruise through middle overs.
The pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mitchell pushed the foot on the pedal after the first two post-PowerPlay overs brought only two fours. The two batters welcomed Pat Cummins with a six each. With dew setting in, Shahbaz Ahmed was taken for a pair of fours by Mitchell, who in the following over scooped Cummins over third man.
The New Zealander, an INR 14 crore acquisition, got to his maiden IPL fifty off 29 deliveries but fell to Unadkat three balls later after being one half of CSK’s most productive partnership of the season – 107 (64). Ruturaj Gaikwad continued to set CSK up for the death-overs, pulling Unadkat for a six hitting Bhuvneshwar for a six and a four to move to 80 off 43.
CSK went the first 10 overs of the last match without a six. Here, they hit the first at the start of the ninth over when Daryl Mitchell welcomed Pat Cummins to the bowling crease by off-driving a slower ball over mid-off. In the same over, Ruturaj Gaikwad repeated the dose to get to 51 off 27. CSK’s other end, including extras, had got just 31 off 27 till that point.
However, Mitchell joined the party now, and played a part in keeping CSK going even as Ruturaj Gaikwad managed just 10 off the next 10. In that period, Mitchell made his way to fifty off 29 before holing out to leave CSK at 126 for 3 in 13.3 overs.
No back-to-back tons for the skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad as CSK post 212 after 20 overs.
Two fours off Cummins in the 16th over took Ruturaj Gaikwad to 89 off 46 but the CSK captain faced only three balls in the next two overs and managed only four runs. The hitting responsibilities, though, were taken up by Shivam Dube (39* off 20), who got going with a pair of sixes off T. Natarajan and then added another six and a four off Cummins.
Jaydev Unadkat sent down an excellent 19th over, giving away just 8. A tiring Ruturaj Gaikwad mis-hit a slower ball to fall for 98 bringing in CSK’s former captain, who duly hit the first ball he faced for four. Dube managed another six before the end as CSK finished on 212.
Shivam Dube continued his exceptional season despite good defensive bowling from SRH. He ended up with 39 off 20, hitting four sixes and a four. Ruturaj Gaikwad found a second wind, taking 29 in 10 balls immediately after Mitchell’s dismissal. Towards the end, though, he was gassed and kept mis-hitting everything. The mis-hits kept falling safe, bringing down his strike rate. The 19th over, bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, brought no boundary.
MS Dhoni came out for a customary 5 off 2, and Dube ended with a huge six, but the question remained: had CSK done the right thing by playing in identical fashion to the other night
Tushar Deshpande clips SRH’s wings in the Powerplay
The visitors threatened a typically fast start when the first ball of the innings, from Deepak Chahar, was cut away for four by Travis Head. Tushar Deshpande was hit for a pair of sixes in the next, one each by Head and Abhishek Sharma, before the bowler hit back with two wickets. First, Head sliced a wide, slower ball to the sweeper fielder.
Impact Substitute Anmol Preet Singh then fell for a golden duck, a leading edge lobbing to extra-cover. Aiden Markram got going with a couple of boundaries but Deshpande picked up a third in his next over when he had Abhishek hitting another slower ball to the deep-point fielder. SRH’s 53/3 was their second lowest PowerPlay tally of the season.
Unlike CSK, Travis Head began with a boundary first ball and a six off the first ball of the next over. Abhishek Sharma matched him with a six off his own. Deshpande, though, came back with a wide slower ball, which Head could send only as far as the sweeper on the off side. Impact Player Anmol Preet Singh fell first ball with a leading edge to one that shaped away.
In his next over, Deshpande had Abhishek caught by the sweeper on the off side again. Abhishek and Head have not put up unbelievable numbers without taking fielders on, but they will be slightly disappointed they both found one of the only two men out.
CSK suffocate SRH’s progress in middle overs
Even against a wet ball that had to be changed once, SRH managed to go just over a run-a-ball over the nine middle overs, hitting a total of just three boundaries in the phase. Ravindra Jadeja had Nitish Reddy miscuing a pull while Matheesha Pathirana uprooted Markram’s middle stump with a yorker.
But the best part of that bowling display from CSK was how Shardul Thakur used the wide line and bowled to the longer boundary, yanking hitters of the ilk of Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad out of shape in their attempt to hit out. The pitch wasn’t as flat as the CSK’s total might suggest too with the odd ball stopping. Jadeja too made no real effort to spin the wet ball and almost operated as a medium pacer, finishing off his four overs with figures of 1 for 22.
This is where CSK changed their fortunes as compared to the last match. LSG didn’t let the CSK spinners bowl in the last match, especially with the dew. Here Ravindra Jadeja got into his work. He conceded just one boundary in his four overs, bowled on the trot. He and Mustafizur Rahman managed to find just enough grip from the surface. A frustrated Nitish Reddy top-edged a short ball from Jadeja before Matheesha Pathirana broke the stump camera with a laser-guided middle-stump yorker to Aiden Markram.
SRH concede NRR ground as they went down by 78 runs
104 off 30 was always going to be a bridge too far for SRH to cross but they still had the Net Run Rate game to play in what is shaping up to be a tight playoffs race. Klaasen attempted to slog Pathirana and holed out to long-on. Samad hit Thakur to long-off in the next over before Pat Cummins slogged Deshpande to long-on to give the bowler a fourth wicket. Mustafizur Rahman picked up the final two wickets as SRH were bowled out with seven balls remaining.
CSK were right. There wasn’t to be a repeat of a special chase as they closed out efficiently for a 78-run win. Call them conservative, but Chennai Super Kings successfully backed their method despite not being able to defend 210 in their previous home match against Lucknow Super Giants. The power-packed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s drought in Chennai – they have never beaten CSK at Chepauk – continued as they fell short comprehensively despite batting in dewy conditions.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Pat Cummins the loosing skipper said :
“(On would he have batted first in hindsight) Not really. We thought it was our best chance to win. They batted well to get to 210 but with thought we were in with a chance with our batting lineup, the pitch was playing well too. We’re pretty happy with how the batting lineup is going,”
“Everyone in that lineup has performed and won us a game at some point in the tournament. It’s definitely dewy now but it was the same in the first innings as well. We’ll bounce back quickly,” he added.
Ruturaj Gaikwad the winning skipper and Player of the Match for his 98 said :
“Feeling pretty good. Tough to play in such wet conditions, and to be able to win by 70-odd runs is a clinical performance. Was blessing in disguise at toss. Everything is good (injury concern?). Too hot and humid conditions,”
“Even the last game, was there batting for 20 overs and fielding for 20 overs. Today also almost same. Wasn’t thinking about hundred. Wanted to make sure we get to 220-odd. Was disappointed that I missed 4-5 hits at the back end,” he stated.
“During innings break I felt it could make a difference and I was upset. But thankfully it was enough. Last game we made some errors. Some loose balls here and there. Today we were outstanding in the field. Stuck to the plans and knew what the conditions were. With impact player rule, you always want the extra 20 runs,” he added.
“Never know what par score is. That was one area – not getting wickets in powerplay. That’s the only way it can put opposition in back foot. He’s bowling really well (Deshpande). His hard work is paying off. Special mention to Jaddu as well. In these wet conditions to go for 22 runs, that was the match turning spell. I’m not vocal. Can’t tell seniors in the dressing room what to do. You have to take the back seat and let them do their job,” he concluded.
The slowest team in the first two overs and the third-slowest in the powerplay, CSK looked like they were playing the same game again: lose the toss (their eighth lost toss in nine matches), lay a cautious platform, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring around about a hundred, Shivam Dube pushing them over 200…
But then it changed in the second innings. CSK must have figured they had got done in by excessive dew, a special innings from Marcus Stoinis and some ordinary fielding from themselves the other night, a combination of events that won’t be repeated every night.
On Sunday, it wasn’t repeated, after Tushar Deshpande rocked SRH with three wickets in the powerplay. Both Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma found the sweeper on the off side. The big win took CSK from sixth to third on the points table, tied on points with SRH and LSG. SRH were left with questions around their chasing methods: they have lost only one when defending but won only one when chasing. Their run rate when chasing falls three points from their 11.74 in the first innings, and the average comes down from nearly 40 to 23.
Twice in two games now that SRH have completely fallen apart in a run-chase. They got nowhere close the other day against RCB, and have lost by a massive 78 runs here at Chepauk. CSK will be chuffed with this performance as their bowlers were absolutely remarkable despite there being so much dew on the outfield. They used the reasonably sized square boundaries quite well, especially Deshpande upfront with the new ball as he got both Head and Abhishek caught at deep point.
He ended up finishing with his best figures in IPL – going on to take a four-fer, while Pathirana was brilliant again in the middle overs. The execution of plans from the CSK pacers to bowl wide of off after the powerplay, and a brilliant spell of 1/22 from Jadeja, meant that SRH were left deprived of boundaries with even someone like Klaasen struggling to get going.
Eventually, most of their batters ended up getting caught in the deep while going for the big shot. They kept finding Mitchell at the boundary, giving him as many as five catches and he held onto every one of those. This tournament has really opened up nicely over the last few days. Teams at the top are getting knocked over, and some others in the lower half are making a move.
CSK, in fact, have jumped from sixth to third on the table, pushing SRH to fourth. They’ve bounced back nicely from the defeat against LSG to defend a similar total today, despite there being a lot of dew on the outfield. Execution of plans from all bowlers was brilliant. Two games in a row now that the much vaunted Sunrisers batting lineup has been found wanting in a run-chase. CSK play the last of their three-match home stretch against Punjab Kings on May 1. SRH will head home to host table-toppers Rajasthan Royals the following day.