IPL 2018: Same questions, no new answers for CSK in a defeat to DD that not many saw coming

Chennai Super Kings have already confirmed their place in the IPL 2018 Playoffs.

Delhi Daredevils have already been knocked out of contention.

By that reasoning, Friday’s match was inconsequential. It was a rare opportunity for both teams to test out their combinations without the pressure of having to win two points. For Chennai, to iron out their flaws ahead of the crunch matches. For Delhi, a chance to give their youthful side a proper go.

But in a result that no one saw coming, Delhi Daredevils beat Chennai Super Kings by 34 runs. There was no scope for even a CSK-style last-over thriller as DD choked the chase with a splendid, collective bowling effort.

Stranger things have happened, but Daredevils’ fourth win of the season in 13 games has to be the weirdest match of the season, so far.

Here’s a lowdown on how David toppled Goliath without an actual battle, against a team that had Dhoni, the patron saint of tight run-chases.

A tricky run-chase

Strange thing, edition one was the captaincy. Dhoni choosing to chase at toss, testing the team on a deteriorating wicket is a chance he’d like to take. It was a chance gone awry as CSK ended up conceding 162, which is considerably more than the 140-odd which would have been ideal on this pitch.

In his post-match chat, Dhoni was unfazed saying this loss didn’t fuss him at all because they “have to be practical looking at the wicket.”

Admittedly, the wicket was a tricky beast. Two-paced, slow-turner but skiddy with the new ball, difficult to both bat on and bowl on. But it wasn’t the wicket alone that could be blamed. And that’s what brings us to heart of the matter – bowling Dwayne Bravo in the 20th over, which went for 26 runs.

Bravo’s troubles

Strike bowlers Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi had an over each left. Ngidi had been the standout bowler, dismissing both Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the 11th over and had an economy of less than 5. Bravo had given 26 in his first three overs and has not been at his best at the death throughout this season, with 12 runs coming off his third over, only the second over of the Delhi innings to cross into double figures.

And, this decision ended up being the biggest turning point of the match. To take the biblical analogy further, Harshal Patel was the proverbial slingshot.

Patel and Vijay Shankar smashed the last 6 balls for 26 runs, taking DD to a 162. 26 runs in an over is a lot any way you look at it, but it is especially criminal in the 20th over of a low-scoring match on a tough pitch. That it were lower order bats who were picking the West Indian all-rounder’s variations was added insult.

The partnership of 65 between Shankar (36* off 29) and Patel (36* off 16) was crucial after the top-order’s rare and Glenn Maxwell’s regular failure. As Player of the Match Patel said after the match, one over can change the game.

The humungous last over also seemed to give DD the momentum as they came in for the chase. Which brings us to the other strange thing: CSK’s Powerplay approach.

Not the best of starts

Given that this was a sluggish pitch that was bound to deteriorate, it wasn’t going to be a canter of a chase. But somehow CSK’s reliable opening pair of Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu just couldn’t get off the blocks. It looked like a completely different combination was batting out there, one either not comfortable with each other or too confident of sorting out the chase.

They managed to score just 22 runs in the first five overs, before Rayudu smashed Avesh Khan for 22 more in the last over of the Powerplay to jumpstart the scoring.

But credit goes to Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Khan and Harshal Patel here for keeping things tight. (Credit also Iyer here for rotating his bowlers well.)

With a mix of clever variations and crafty lines, DD kept the scoreboard pressure. Rayudu departed at the halfway mark, with team on 70/2, needing 93 off the last 60 balls with Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni on crease. Should’ve been easy, even on tricky Kotla, right?

Far too many times, it has been this bowling unit that has let Delhi down after the batting has given them a big score. In fact, the bowing’s lack of spearhead is what has brought DD the last spot again, because the batting has clicked. But not on Friday, this was a different unit.

A great bowling effort

How’s this for a stat? Only Avesh Khan (28 in 2 overs) and Maxwell (14 in 2 overs) had an economy of over 6 on the night for the hosts.

Patel was instrumental here as well. He gave away two in first over, in the Powerplay, and took the big wicket of Rayudu in his second, just after the team’s highest run-getter had reached 50. His third over came at the death and yielded only 3 with Dhoni and Jadeja on crease. By the time he bowled his last, the equation was far too gone to matter.

But the trump card was the leg-spin duo of Amit Mishra (2/20) and Sandeep Lamichhane (1/21) – the veteran and the rookie. Mishra has bowled several tight spells in this season, only to be let down by his teammates. But in the 17-year-old Nepali, playing only his second IPL match, he found the perfect partner.

So good was this combination that it didn’t actually matter when Suresh Raina (15 off 18) was dropped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on the first ball he faced. Lamichhane had him caught at deep midwicket soon after.

The pattern was the same for Chennai batsmen - getting dismissed after holing out in the deep, a consequence of the ball not coming on to the bat well and the mounting required rate. The match was all but over, even with a few overs to go, despite Dhoni’s presence in the middle. His dismissal was the final nail on the coffin.

Questions remain for CSK

In the end, a match that was supposedly a chance to help iron out their flaws before the playoffs, exposed familiar problems for CSK. If Bravo’s performances at the death have worried Dhoni this year, the defeat at Kotla would have only made it worse. A chance to see how Ngidi does under pressure went begging, instead problems persist for the men in yellow. The fielding was once again sloppy, but even Dhoni seems to have chalked that down as inevitable for this edition at least.

This loss is also going to affect the NRR for CSK and if they end up losing to KXIP by a similar margin and KKR defeat SRH (still far-fetched), Dhoni and Co could well finish third, giving them only one shot at the finals, which will be a heavy blow after their consistent performances.

As for the Ricky Ponting-helmed Delhi, there will be a sigh of relief much like the one Maxwell’s face when he took Rayudu’s catch – his only real meaningful contribution in the match. Despite a less-than perfect performance, they put on a spirited show and showed that they there is much more to them than just being guardians of the wooden spoon.