Call them cautious, but the Chennai Super Kings have shown their worth, even though they were unable to hold 210 against the Lucknow Super Giants in their most recent home game. Despite batting in damp circumstances, the formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad saw their run of defeats in Chennai continue as they were completely outclassed. The second innings saw a change in CSK’s performance, as they went from being the slowest team in the first two overs to the third slowest in the powerplay. After losing their eighth toss in nine matches, they laid a cautious foundation with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring around a hundred and Shivam Dube pushing them over 200.
CSK must have reasoned that the prior night’s spectacular innings from Marcus Stoinis, heavy dew, and subpar self-defense were all factors that would not recur every time. That didn’t happen on Sunday, as Tushar Deshpande stunned the SRH with three wickets in the powerplay. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head both discovered the sweeper on the off side. With the significant victory, CSK moved up to third place in the standings, level with SRH and LSG. Given that SRH has only lost one game when defending and only one while chasing, concerns were raised about their chasing strategies.
