IPL Cricket
Chennai Super Kings – have all chances now to emerge as the table topper after their win against Kochi at home. The win was well structured and it was the only constant on an otherwise unusual “pleasant” day at Chennai. The weather, the top scorer, Morkel not getting to bowl, Badrinath getting out cheaply, Dhoni not finishing were some of the unusual things that happened, yet Chennai won due to their fielding (barring Vijay’s drop off Hodge, which was “baby – sitter” of a catch, which made him a fool of his own technique) and batting prowess, to remain the only team to crack the code of 7 games at home and win all of them. Sanga and DC can get some tips from MSD on how to emerge victorious at home as they have won just 1 out of 7 games this season!
Kochi needed a big win to keep them mathematically alive in this competition, but even the usually dominating Brendon McCullum was forced to exercise restraint against some determined bowling. R Ashwin kept one end locked up with his variations in turn, flight and pace, and sent back Parthiv in his second over. The difference between the teams was evident from the fielding and the spin bowling. Ashwin, Raina and Jakati bowled 12 overs to check the Kochi batsmen.
CSK would love to stay on top of the table to have a second go at the championship if they happen to lose the qualifier1. But as per the current trend, Chennai would not mind losing in Qualifier1 and play Qualifier2 at Chennai which will give them the bite and confidence to go through to the final. The strength of Chennai has always been the way they plan the match in the middle overs and go for the leather hunt in the final stages. The spin attack has defended the scores set by the batsmen. Ashwin has relished his chances of bowling in the field restriction overs and he has taken the chance as “duck to water”.
The focus will now move to Bangalore where CSK will play against RCB who will look to fix their heavy loss against Kings XI. It will be interesting to see what RCB can do differently and find a top scorer and a match winner other than Chris Gayle. As the league enters the final stages it’s a foregone conclusion that individual brilliance will not be the order of the day but team work will always give the victory lap!
Tags: Chennai Super Kings, CSK, DC, Qualifier1, Qualifier2, RCB, Sanga
