This will happen one day. However, the timing – just 24 hours before qualifying for the T20 World Cup – cannot be ignored. Shivam Dube scored for the first time this season, ending a stunning run that produced 350 runs at a strike rate of over 170. But he also has a wicket to show for it. Picking off Jonny Bairstow with a harmless chipper, his second of the season, should have been an ideal boost to Dube’s all-round credentials, but Riley Rossu ( Rilee Rossouw pushed him for a six and a four in the same over which meant CSK’s little experiment with Dube saw the all-rounder last just one over.
Dube’s out was as expected and he fell to his knees but Harpreet Brar slipped the ball as he lifted it and hit him on the back leg straight past Dube. Bey, then knocks it out. Yet inexplicably, Chennai Super Kings, who suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab in seven games, allowed this exit to hamper their campaign. CSK’s dismal batting performance after the Powerplay, hitting 55 balls without hitting a boundary, highlighted not only their lack of serendipity but also their lack of intention as Punjab slowly grew more confident.
The setback was undoubtedly huge, losing Ajinkya Rahane and Dube in the ninth over and then Ravindra Jadeja in the next over, it was understandable that CSK took some time to stabilize the situation. . Chepauk’s sixes were not easy to come by, but Ruturaj Gaikwad – the only CSK batsman to score more than 30 runs – was unable to find gaps, meaning CSK were The concern was that the declining run rate would not be stemmed for a long period of time. The slow bowling of Brar and Rahul Chahal contributed to this slump, as they took two wickets each and conceded just 33 runs in eight boundary-less overs.
All four are top-order wickets, but none are as important as Dube, who has been identified as a mid-off spin batsman this season and has been utilized to the fullest. The key to these four dismissals was the way in which Brar and Chahal kept delivering the ball, daring CSK’s batsmen to confront them. Gaikwad didn’t take the risk in his promotion to fifty, but neither did Sameer Rizvi, after Jadeja’s fall, He was hastily chosen as Rahane’s replacement.
When Rizvi finally broke the deadlock with a striped boundary, the damage was irreparable. 60 runs in the last five overs would have been good to contain the damage, but for the middle overs, CSK’s average run rate was just 5.22. It also exposed CSK’s inability to cope with spin without Dube, with a total of 33 runs in 8 overs and 124 runs in 12 pace overs.
This is their home and CSK may be hoping that their spinners can inflict similar damage on Punjab. But waiting for the fielding restrictions to be lifted may play into Punjab’s hands as they rush into the match with a record of 52/1 in the powerplay format. When the spinners were finally deployed, Jonny Bairstow wasted no time in recharging them. Jadeja was restricted through third and deep mid-wicket in his first over. Next, Moeen Ali took the ball and Bairstow first pulled him outside off for a six and then targeted deep mid-wicket, Jadeja not only failed to catch the ball , and also lost a boundary.
Despite Bairstow’s dismissal, Riley Rossu continued to attack until Dube finally caught him. But the momentum in the first half of the innings was so decisive that Sam Curran and Shashank Singh had no problem in the rest of the chase. Mustafizur Rahman’s cutter got due respect in a stingy spell of 3-1-13-0, but the rest of CSK’s bowling hardly posed a problem. Add to that the fact that Deepak Chahar limped off the field after playing just two balls, and all in all, it wasn’t a great day for the Super Kings.