The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Champions flex muscles
CSK showcase batting might as Dube stars in 63-run rout of Gujarat at Chepauk
A new fortress in the making
Foramajorpartofthelastdecade,chennai Super Kings’ template at home was to strangleopponentswiththeirspinners.ontheslow Chepauk pitches, where they enjoy a win percentage of over 70, this had been their success model. But with batting depth that extends all the way to No.9, CSK’S Plan A is to out-bat the opposition with sheer power.
And with a placid pitch rolled out, Chennai took the field with just Ravindra Jadeja as a frontline spinner. Though he ended up bowling just two overs while defending a target of 207,theirseamattack-whichincludeddeepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana and Daryl Mitchell - chipped in with wickets.
Nowhere in the chase
From the moment Shubman Gill perished in the third over, adjudged LBW to Chahar, Gujarat’schasebegantogooff-track.eversince Hardik Pandya moved to Mumbai Indians, there have been concerns of how this batting unit that lacks firepower in the middle order would respond. And faced with their first big challenge, they crumbled under pressure. Having benched Kane Williamson in favour of all-rounderazmattullahomarzaiandspencer Johnson to strengthen their bowling, Gujarat seem to be overly dependent on skipper Gill with the bat. With David Miller as a finisher and Rashid Khan being certainties in the XI, Gujarat have to find a way to include
Williamson in place of Omarzai or Johnson or risk falling away early in the hunt for the playoffs.
And going by how their chase panned out atchepauk,gujarathaveeveryreasontobring inwilliamson.thoughatargetinexcessof200 was always going to be challenging, that they were never in the game in the second half of the fixture told a story in itself as Chennai postedtheirfirstwinovergujaratintheleague stages of the IPL.
Damage at the top
Thisisruturajgaikwad’sfourthfullseason with Chennai and during this time, he has had three different opening partners in Faf du Plessis, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. But Gaikwad has forged a solid partnership withallofthem.lastseasonwithgaikwadand Conway at the top, the Powerplay set the tone forsuperkingsastheywentat9.35runsinthe first six overs.
And with Rachin coming in as Gaikwad’s newpartneratthetop,thetrendhascontinued this season. After scoring 62 Powerplay runs in their opening game, on Tuesday against the Gujarat Titans, Chennai had 69 runs with Rachin providing all the fireworks. The New Zealander was around for only 20 deliveries, butinflictedplentyofdamageongujarat,scoring 46 runs off those. Though only two runs came off the first over, the next five overs saw Gujarat leaking 11, 12, 16, 17 and 11 runs, as nine boundaries and three sixes came inside the Powerplay. From there on, the only way Gujarat could make a comeback was through Rashid Khan.
Mayhem in the middle
With Rashid and Sai Kishore in their ranks, Gujarat had an opportunity to make a comeback in the middle overs. Even as Ajinkya Rahane struggled to get going, Gaikwad ensured the run rate never dipped. But still Gujarat were beginning to find some control, until Rahane fell to Sai Kishore and Shivam Dube came in at No.4.
Itmeantthatwithtwooftheirspinnersstill havingmorethanhalfoftheirquotasremaining, Gujarat had to alter their plans, given
Dube’s exceptional record against spinners.
Dube wasted no time, as he struck two massive sixes off the first two deliveries he faced off Sai Kishore, shifting pressure back to Gujarat in no time.
In the 13th over, Spencer Johnson accounted for Gaikwad, but then again it had minimaleffectonchennai’sprogress.thenext two overs from Rashid and Johnson again brought13and14runsrespectively.morethan theirstrikingability,whatstoodoutamongthe Superkingsbattingline-upwastheintentand strike rate.
Dube lights up Chepauk
Standing tall in their bold approach was Dube. A batsman who batted out of position at Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, he was unleashed at No.4 by CSK last season with the sole intention of taking down spinners.withthenewtwo-bouncers-an-over rule,alleyeswereonhowdube–whosestruggles against short balls are well documented – would respond.
Againstrcbasalzarrijosephroughedhim up with bouncers, it prompted Dale Steyn to tweet: “Short ball tactic is already showing who can and who can’t... Gonna be a long IPL for some batters.”
Butinsuccessivematches,dubehasfound asimplemethodtotackletheshortstuff.with minimal footwork at work, he has stayed rootedtothecrease.apartfromswayingaway from the delivery if it is in line with his body, he has tried to play them in front. On Tuesday, as Johnson and Mohit Sharma tested him bouncers-fastandslow–dubeplayedwithin his limitations. Apart from rolling his wrists to keep the ball down, when the two bowlers erred on the leg-stump channel, he arched back and pulled them for two boundaries and a six.
Withgujarat’sbest-laidplansfallingapart, Chennaimotoredalongfortheirfirst200-plus total of the season.
Chennai Super Kings 206/6 in20overs(shivamdube51,rachinravindra 46, Ruturaj Gaikwad 46) beat Gujarat Titans 143/8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 37; Tushar Deshpande 2/21) by 63 runs.