Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have a reputation for their strong bowling in the middle overs, which often disrupts their opponents’ momentum. However, in the recent game against Rajasthan Royals (RR), the CSK bowlers struggled in the first six overs as the Royals raced to 64/0. Yashasvi Jaiswal continued the onslaught in the middle overs, registering his third half-century in five innings against CSK. Despite some tight bowling from CSK, the Royals were at 139/3 after 15 overs.
By the end of the 17th over, the Royals had lost Shimron Hetmyer and had only reached 153/4. At this point, CSK had hoped to restrict the Royals to under 180. However, Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal’s blitz finish helped the Royals score 49 runs in the last three overs, setting a total of over 200 for the first time ever at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. In this game, 62.87% of the Royals’ runs came in the powerplay and death overs, with 64% and 63% respectively.
In the CSK chase, they fared well in the middle overs, scoring eight runs more than the Royals had in their innings. However, the difference between the two teams was their performance in the powerplay and death overs. CSK only scored 42 runs in the first six overs and 45 runs in the last five overs, falling well short of the target. This loss marks CSK’s sixth defeat in seven outings against the Royals since 2020.
Despite conceding 48 runs without taking a wicket in four overs, Matheesha Pathirana found the support of CSK captain MS Dhoni.
“It was quite a bit above par score. The reason was the first six overs, we gave away too many in the first six. At the same time the wicket was best to bat on at that period. Then our bowlers bowled well in the middle overs but even when we were finishing, there were a few edges that went for boundaries and that actually kept adding to the score. If I just go through it, maybe there were at least five or six boundaries with edges and that had a very big impact on the score. I think they got a par-plus score and we were not able to get a good start in the first six overs,” said Dhoni while speaking to the broadcasters after the game.
He added: “You have to accept it, because you don’t look at the scorecard. What you are looking at is how the ball was delivered, where it was and where the boundary went. These things help you take better decisions and I felt his bowling was very good, it was not like he bowled badly. Yes, there will be a few deliveries where the batsmen will play the big shot but other than that I think the scorecard doesn’t really reflect how well he bowled.”
MSD also praised Jaiswal and Jurel for their batting and highlighted the significance of the first six overs in the match.
“Yashasvi batted really well, it was important to go after the bowlers and I think he took calculated risks. It felt it was slightly easy with our bowlers because they had to assess as to what is a good length to bowl. As a captain you can tell them initially that you want to be slightly on the shorter side.”
“But it’s very difficult to calculate as to what is that shorter side. So I felt initially we gave away a few boundaries that were too up (on the fuller side) and then you are doing the catching up work. Still I felt Yashasvi batted very well at the top and in the last few Jurel batted well. (But) I think it was in the first six that took the game away from us,” concluded Dhoni.
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