Many drops make a shower and many kings make the Chennai Super Kings. That was their recipe for success on Monday as they outplayed Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs at the Wankhede in Mumbai.
First, almost the entire team contributed in the Super Kings challenging total of 188/9 after they were asked to bat. Then, disciplined bowling, supportive fielding and astute captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was leading the Super Kings for the 200th time, resulted in a comfortable victory.
The Royals were in the chase for the first 10 overs, reaching 81/2 at the halfway stage with opener Jos Buttler (49 off 35 balls) doing the bulk of the scoring. But they suffered an extraordinary collapse beginning from the first ball of the 12th over. In the span of the next four overs, they lost five wickets adding only 10 runs to the total. From 81/2 in 10 overs, they were 97/7 after 15 overs.
With 92 needed from the last five overs, only a miracle or a Rahul Tewatia could have saved the Royals. But the miracle did not happen and Tewatia managed only 20 off 15 balls as Sanju Samson’s side to suffer their second loss in three matches.
Speaking of Samson (1), the talented batsman in him has once again gone into hibernation after the fireworks in the first match. Without him making enough runs, Royals will find it tough winning matches.
Team together
Chennai’s innings was sewn up with little beads of contributions from almost all the batsmen, with no one single big knock. Faf du Plessis’ 33 off 17 balls was the highest and there were three scores between 20-30. All others, barring Ravindra Jadeja (8), in the top nine in the batting order reached double figures between 10-19.
After Faf’s early aggression, Moeen Ali (26 off 20 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (27 off 17 balls) pulled off a few big hits to ensure their team’s run rate did not suffer any middle-overs slump. Chennai’s total could have been bigger had Suresh Raina (18 off 15 balls) and Dhoni (18 off 17 balls) got their runs a bit quicker. Something that No.9 batsman Dwayne Bravo did, making 20 not out off 8 balls at the death.
Chennai boast of a line-up in which players down till No.10 are known to be decent hands with the bat. Like Shardul Thakur, whose exploits with the bat in Australia earned him quite a name, was the No.10 batsman on Monday.
IPL 2021 is still in its baby stage, but Dhoni’s team do have an enviable line-up. If their bowlers can bring their ‘A’ game out for the entire duration of the tournament, few sides will be able to match their all-round might.
Add to that Dhoni’s ripe old brain. The way he used his spinners Ravindra Jadeja (2/28) and Moeen Ali (3/7), bringing them on as soon as he got a dry ball, was brilliant to say the least. Equally good was his field placements as Jadeja took four catches.
Opening issue
Despite the easy win, Chennai might think of changing their opening combination for the next match with young Ruturaj Gaikwad struggling to get into a rhythm.
His scores so far this year have been 5, 5, 10.
It would not be a bad idea to try Cheteshwar Pujara alongside Faf at the top of the order and give Ruturaj some time out to think over his game. Pujara has opened in T20s earlier and he deserves a chance, unless of course his recruitment was only ornamental.