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Strike force: CSK show how to not let the momentum drop
Instead of relying on an anchor, CSK relied on multiple impactful innings throughout the middle overs, an approach some teams are embracing
Eight hundreds were struck in the 2022 IPL, but only four of them actually propelled their respective teams to totals of 200 or more. Two hundreds have been scored in this edition so far, but there are already 12 team totals of 200 or more, quietly surpassing the tournament haul of 11 such totals in 2019, nine in 2021 and hovering close to 13 in 2020 and 18 in the 2022 edition. Individual hundreds rarely have guaranteed big totals but this time, teams seem to have hesitated less in relying on brief but impactful bursts instead of anchoring innings.
At the core of this change of approach is the acceptance that 200 may be the new 180 this IPL. Notwithstanding the size of Chinnaswamy, RCB captain Faf du Plessis felt the same. “I think the nature of pitches will turn, but 180-200 will be a nice target,” he said after putting Chennai Super Kings to bat. CSK knew they had to put up something big.
“Maybe 180-200 is a par score but we need to keep re-evaluating every 3-4 overs on where we stand and what would be a good total to get to,” said MS Dhoni at the toss.
Only after a nervy win was secured in the last over did Dhoni elaborate on the thought process behind aiming beyond 200. “Whenever you score 220, the batsmen have to keep on hitting. It's a matter of a few overs in the middle,” he said after the match.
Only one way could have CSK achieved that target – by scoring quick, impactful innings in the middle overs. And for that, batters needed to not hold back even when they were sitting on good starts. Devon Conway gave them a perfect kickstart but it was only after Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube chimed in with strike rates of over 180 that CSK were really on their way to something really big. In a way, the key to CSK’s continued momentum was Rahane and Dube’s willingness to not think about their wickets as long as the team’s cause was served. It was also why Ravindra Jadeja was seen asking the dugout if he should retire since he wasn't able to score quickly.
Conway gave a lowdown on how they approached it. "So for us to get those big totals, it's about trying to create a strike-rate around 200+," he said after the game. "I didn't manage to achieve that but some of the other work done by the other players like Ajinkya, Shiv, Rayudu, Moeen... guys all chipped in with really good strike-rates, and I think that's what got us to a very competitive total. And that's probably a method on a wicket like this, where it is really good to bat. You just gotta come in, try to make a quick impact and back your bowlers to do the job later on."
Every run matters in the context of such a high-scoring humdinger. This is why landmarks like fifties or hundreds rarely highlight the batting health of the team as a whole. Ambati Rayudu scored 14 and Moeen Ali just 19 but those 33 runs came off just 15 balls, underlining what CSK were trying to achieve.
Man to man, RCB were just not quick enough despite Faf du Plessis and Glen Maxwell toeing that strategy while adding 126 runs in 61 balls. Once that partnership was broken, however, RCB’s next 87 runs came off 47 balls at a strike rate of 185, well short of CSK’s strike rate of 219 during the same phase.
A similar approach has been adopted by a few other teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals, thanks to their impactful batting. That the five top strike rates with a minimum aggregate of 100 runs belong to batters who are not openers in this IPL tells you how much teams are working on backing themselves to score big irrespective of how many wickets have been lost.
Like Nicholas Pooran who gave Super Giants an unlikely, almost impossible come-from-behind victory against RCB with a 19-ball 62 coming in at No 6. Two of the most memorable match-winning innings–Shardul Thakur’s 29-ball 68 against RCB and Shimron Hetmyer’s 26-ball 56* against Gujarat Titans–came at No 7. It was in the same vein that Rahane, Dube and even Maxwell and du Plessis were batting, the only difference being CSK could sustain that approach all the way but RCB couldn't.
