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Sandeep Sharma keeps cool as MS Dhoni's CSK lose trial by spin at home in IPL 2023
Sandeep Sharma keeps cool as MS Dhoni fails to hit six off last ball, Rajasthan Royals win by three runs.
In MS Dhoni’s 200th IPL match as captain, at a buzzing Chepauk decked in their trademark vibrant yellow, it looked like Chennai Super Kings couldn’t put a foot wrong. Twenty one off the last over? If Rinku Singh can do it, CSK knew Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja could do it twice. It was looking that way too as Dhoni flayed Sandeep Sharma for two sixes after he strayed to concede two wides. But two successive yorkers, first outside off and the second landing right at the base of Dhoni meant CSK fell three runs short of Rajasthan Royals’ 175/8 on Wednesday.
It was a weird innings from Rajasthan Royals, as in it had the usual big shots from usual suspects like Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer but the strategy of using Ravichandran Ashwin above Hetmyer was equally confounding. Buttler reached his fifty in 33 balls, Ashwin hit 30 off 22 before Hetmyer took four balls less to score 30. They reached 95 at the halfway mark but could add only 80 in the next 10 overs, the slide more prominent when you consider Royals could score only 78/3 in the middle overs (7-15) and 40/3 in the slog overs (16-20) after getting off to 57/1 in the Powerplay.
“It started off like a very good wicket,” said Buttler after their innings. “(But it) slowed down and Jadeja bowled well. Powerplay, you are always trying to take advantage of that. We lost a few early wickets and so I had to take the game deeper. Tried to take advantage of the back end but got out early.”
That Chennai Super Kings could bowl 32 dots against this lineup tells us something about their discipline apart from the two-paced nature of the Chepauk pitch. Also, Ravindra Jadeja happened to Royals at the right junctures, MS Dhoni using him cleverly to first peg Royals back after their powerplay before stifling the scoring in the middle overs. If 21 runs in four overs were worth their weight in gold for CSK, Jadeja also single-handedly knocked the stuffing out of Royals’ batting by dismissing Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson in the same over.
Seeing Padikkal take on the spinners, Jadeja tossed at him a wide delivery that he tried to sweep but ended up top-edging, holing to Conway at deep backward square leg. Samson then was bowled by a beauty, the ball landing on length and straightening just enough to beat his outside edge. This was the time Jadeja was particularly effective, derailing Royals’ hopes of consolidating a great start with his variations. As Buttler later said, “It’s hard to play him once it spins.”
It was more difficult for Super Kings. A premeditated slog sweep against Ashwin’s straighter ball put an end to a fine 19-ball 31 from Ajinkya Rahane after he had put on 68 for the second wicket with Conway. Till that dismissal, CSK were going at nearly eight per over. But once Shivam Dube was pushed on to his back foot by Kuldeep Sen and not given any height on the ball by Ashwin, the asking rate started to climb. Not being able to take the heat of playing out two dots, he belted Ashwin down the ground for a four before being foxed by a skidder to be trapped leg before. In three overs, CSK had lost two wickets for just 17 runs.
Already pressed into attack, Yuzvendra Chahal conceded just 12 in two overs before Moeen Ali fell to an Adam Zampa tossed up leg break. Ambati Rayudu went next over, failing to clear the field off Chahal before dismissing Conway off his last ball – tempting him to miscue a fuller delivery to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who ran in from extra cover.
Rarely has Dhoni batted so early in IPL of late. He started off with the customary glances, taking two singles in Ashwin’s final over that further pushed the ask to 14.75. Another five-run over and CSK were looking at 54 from 18. In came Adam Zampa, and straightaway, Dhoni milked him for 14 runs before Jadeja smoked Jason Holder for a boundary and two sixes to almost get the win within their grasp. But it was not to be after requiring 21 off the last six balls.
