LSG lost against CSK at their home ground, Ekana Stadium. They posted a decent total of 166 and defended it well, but MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube snatched the victory from their jaws. Let’s explore the reasons for LSG’s defeat against CSK.
Lack of intent against spinners
Spinners from both sides have done well in this match. Noor Ahmad didn’t pick any wickets but gave just 13 runs in his 4 overs. LSG batters didn’t take any risk or try to counter-attack him, as he was CSK’s best bowler. But giving too much respect to him made them fall short of 10 to 15 runs, which cost them the game.
CSK batters also played the spin cautiously because they knew the required run rate was less, and they could capitalize on the fast bowlers in the death, and that’s what happened actually. Adding 15 runs to the total and the target above 180 would have created extra pressure on CSK, as they never chased 180 runs in the last 7 years.
Poor bowling rotation
CSK scored 59 runs in the first 6 overs. After that, the spinners controlled the game really well in the middle. Even a part-time spinner, Aiden Markram, gave just 25 runs in his 4 overs and picked the crucial wicket of Rachin Ravindra. CSK were on 111 runs for 5 wickets after the end of the 15th over.
Ravi Bishnoi had one over left, and Dhoni came into the crease. Bishnoi bowled very well in that match by giving just 18 runs in his 3 overs and picked 2 crucial wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Ravindra Jadeja. He could have bowled any one of the last 5 overs.
But, Rishabh Pant didn’t give him the ball because Shivam Dube was standing in the middle along with Dhoni. But Dube couldn’t hit the spinners in the middle overs as well. He was struggling to middle the ball in the entire innings. Bishnoi had a very good googly, which could have been effective against both Dube and Dhoni.
Pant missed the trick there and gave all 5 overs to the Pacers. Dhoni loves pace on the ball and capitalized on it.
Poor field placements in the death overs
LSG bowlers’ plan to Dhoni in the last 5 overs was to bowl outside the off stump deliveries. But they kept the third man inside the circle. It’s a high-risk option that just a nick on the edge would carry the ball to the boundary, and that happened exactly.
Dhoni scored 2 boundaries to the third man in the 16th and 18th over, bowled by Avesh Khan. Easy boundaries like these released the pressure on the batters. Even Shivam Dube scored all his boundaries in the death overs in the offside. Their plan to bowl wide yorkers was good there was no proper field set up to back their plan.
Also Read:Â LSG vs CSK: CSK’s Nervy Win Against LSG Breaks Records