The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) faced defeat from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, April 5th. Second consecutive loss for defending champions marked early struggles under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy. Tame performance saw them falter against opponents, hitting a rough patch.
Chennai Super Kings batted first and scored 165 runs with cameos from Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. It was regarded a par score at the midway point, given the sluggish surface and CSK’s ability to dominate the game with their three-pronged spin attack.
However, SRH ensured that the game ended before the spinners had a chance to introduce control. Moeen Ali dropping Travis Head at slip off the second ball of the run chase was an awful harbinger of what was to come. Abhishek Sharma took on Mukesh Choudhary in the second over and scored 27 runs.
The new opening partnership completed their mission by scoring 46 runs off only 16 deliveries, giving SRH a significant lead in the run chase.
Chennai Super Kings bowlers’ agony continued as SRH scored 78 runs in the powerplay, over half their goal.
With the needed pace under control, SRH were able to maneuver through the more difficult situations with ease. Aiden Markram led the run chase with 50, while Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy completed with 11 balls to spare.
Fans saw a significant dearth of skill in the bowling attack without Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman. Here are some reactions to X:
“About time CSK’s Ranji trophy bowling attack was found out,” a user wrote.
“CSK batsmen will click but they need to sort out their bowling combination,” former player S Badrinath opined.
“The bowling in powerplay today was awful to say the least,” another user highlighted the new ball bowling as the reason behind the loss.
“We conceded too many in the batting powerplay” – CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad agreed that the surface did not alter much throughout the competition, and he considered 170-175 to be a fair result.
“It was a black soil pitch, so we expected the pitch to be slower, but it became slower and slower, and they used the boundary size well. We conceded too many in the batting PP, one dropped catch and one expensive over. Still, to take them to the 19th over was a great effort. I thought anything around 170-175 would’ve been a good total for us.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad
On Monday, April 7, CSK will travel to Chepauk to play the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have yet to lose.