New Delhi: On Saturday, Delhi slumped to the lowest powerplay score against RCB, scrawling to 28/2. CSK, on Sunday, bettered Delhi’s mark, scoring 27/1 against SRH in Uppal after the hosts rode on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s opening spell to strangle the Chennai outfit. In the process, CSK also got the lowest 10-over score, reaching 54/2.
While the Uppal wicket seemed on the slower side, credit to Bhuvneshwar and co for strangling the opposition like no other franchise has done before. Though, there appeared some tactical glitches by CSK at the top, sending new man Faf du Plessis in the opening slot, who failed to impose himself on the opposition. But it was the tag-team of Bhuvneshwar and Billy Stanlake, who refrained from pitching short and only targeted the good length spot. They did mix up their pace often, it was Bhuvneshwar who got danger-man Shane Watson with a knuckle-ball in the fourth over.
This is how SRH’s bowlers fared in the first six overs — 2,2,4,7,6,6, almost resembling a postcode of a place. Kane Williamson too played with the minds of the opposition batters as they consistently craved for pace but the NZ skipper made tactical changes to cut down on that aspect. Plus, facing a new bowler everytime would give CSK batters a challenge up front.
CSK suffered as after Watson departed, even Du Plessis couldn’t step up and was struggled to come to terms with the pace and bounce of the track. In the eighth over, his desperation to launch into an attack urged him to manufacture a slog sweep but was miles away from making a contact with the ball. Du Plessis was stumped. If Rayudu took time, it was plausible as it wasn’t easy to get used to the wicket. But the damage had been done and CSK were facing a huge challenge to better their situation from this situation.
Source: Zee News