The Indian Premier League 2020 has almost wrapped up its fourth week and while the tournament has been the most unpredictable in years, several strong patterns have emerged in the course of the 25 matches it has played.
While some may be more significant than others, but nothing has come as a bigger shock than the Chennai Super Kings failing to grab any ground in the tournament with courtesy their awful batting display.
CSK batting has been so inconsistent that after winning their 4th match against Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets (chasing 179) they crumbled in their next one against Kolkata Knight Riders, failing to chase a paltry target of 168 runs.
The story was scripted along the similar lines on Saturday, 10 October against the Royal Challengers Bangalore when Chennai batting line-up looked lost of ideas, a painful thing to watch for any CSK faithful who has basked in the glory of this champion team for over a decade.
On that note, here are the three reasons why Chennai Super Kings lost by 37 runs chasing a 170-run target against Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore.
There are few things to watch in world cricket than Virat Kohli in full flow. Wait, scratch that, there is nothing better in cricket than watching Kohli bat in full control of his entire arsenal.
Coming into bat in the third over after Aaron Finch’s weakness against inswingers were once again exposed by a nippy Deepak Chahar, Kohli took control of the stage. In an innings that had so many facets, Virat Kohli oozed class and gave a masterclass in balance, shot selection, maximising output and running between the wickets.
If this was not enough, the impeccably paced innings, pulled Royal Challengers right out of trouble in the final overs of the game while Chennai players looked like they had no clue what hit them.
From 95/4 in 15 overs, Kohli’s acceleration propelled RCB to 169/4 at the end of 20 overs, with the King himself remaining not out at 90 off just 52 balls at a mammoth strike rate of 173.08.
What a way to introduce yourself to your new franchise. After being out of the action for a side strain, Morris ran through the Chennai lower order picking up three crucial wickets of Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo.
Used strategically throughout the innings by Virat Kohli, Morris opened the bowling for the franchise but was taken off after his first over, despite giving away just four runs.
He was brought back int the 10th over where he troubled debutant Narayan Jagadeesan with his pace and bounce of the pitch.
He returned to bowl the 17th and the 19th over picking up three wickets in quick succession off just 19 runs in his four overs.
Above all, Morris’ inclusion in the Bangalore side made the team look more complete than it was before. When RCB aggressively bid for Morris in the auction last year, it was clear that Mike Hesson had plans for the big man and RCB would be super stoked that it came through in the first match itself. Morris never looked out of place in the line-up and delivered from ball one.
He could be a huge game-changer for Bangalore if he stays fit throughout the tournament.
Nothing can be added to what already has been said about the ageing batting line-up. MS Dhoni in the last night’s press conference spoke about the need to fix the batting department and the fact that it was time to change the approach.
“…our main worry remains the batting department. In the coming games, we'll try to be more expressive.” Dhoni said.
Acknowledging that there are too many holes in the ship to plug Dhoni said that they might try playing the other way around in the final overs.
“Batting has been a bit of a worry and today also it was evident. We need to do something about it. I think we are better off playing the other way round, playing the bigger shots even if you get out. That is something we can do in the coming games.” Dhoni added.
Chennai Super Kings are in deep, deep trouble after losing their game against RCB and have to find out answers to their myriad of problems soon. A mid-season transfer could be an option for them, but that comes with its own problems.
Bangalore, on the other hand, looked good with the inclusion of Chris Morris and do not have a reason not to play the same XI in the exciting next game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, 12 October.
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