Gaikwad, Mitchell, Deshpande star in huge win
Call them conservative, but Chennai Super Kings successfully backed their method despite not being able to defend 210 in their last home match against Lucknow Super Giants. The power-packed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s drought in Chennai continued as they fell short comprehensively despite batting in dewy conditions. 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 their eighth toss in nine matches, lay a cautious platform, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring around a hundred, Shivam Dube pushing them over 200, but it changed in the second innings. CSK must have figured they 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 repeat every night. On Sunday, it didn’t, after Tushar Deshpande rocked SRH back 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 the 11.74 in the first innings, and the average comes down from nearly 40 to 23.
Mitchell is ball magnet
Have SRH got a chasing problem?
Klaasen goes
Middle-overs squeeze
Pathirana takes out Markram
Jadeja bounces out Reddy
CSK take the powerplay
Deshpande stuns SRH
Head falls early
Dube, Gaikwad take CSK to 212
Unadkat finishes well
No 20-run overs
Crowd as performers
We know the Chepauk crowd has a long and storied history of roaring for wickets of their own batters. Usually the guy coming in has funny pads and the number 7 on his back. When Mitchell was caught - even as there were deliberations about the no-ball - a buzz went around the stadium. It shows the extent to which that these fans have fallen for Shivam Dube that he is getting the Dhoni treatment. He walked in to the soundtrack from the Vijay movie Vettaikkaran which translates to the hunter. And ever since he's been on strike the people are chanting his name. Du-be! Du-be! Du-be!
Mitchell falls after fifty
Fifty for Mitchell too
Fifty for Gaikwad
Finally a six
No sixes yet
Conservative Super Kings
Rahane's dismal IPL continues
CSK watchful at the start
The MSD watch
Sooooo, the big screen put up a still of MS Dhoni walking and thats enough to set the crowd going. Right next to the picture is a measure of the noise. The decibels going up towards the high 110s. Good practice for next season? When he may or may not be here?
CSK lose another toss, inserted
Jadeja-vu all over again
It is a bit ironic that at the exact time he has won a place in CSK folklore - even gaining a title that the fans only bestow upon their favourites - Jadeja is facing a crisis on not one but two fronts. First, the pitches in Chennai aren't offering their usual help to the spinners. He has come away wicketless in three of the four innings he's bowled at Chepauk. And second, his touch is a little off. Last season, Jadeja faced only 21 dots in the first 10 balls of his innings. This season, even though its only halfway through, that count is already up at 16.