CHENNAI: At one point during the Chennai Super Kings innings in Lucknow on Friday night, it seemed like the hosts had a firm grip on the contest. The scoreboard, after 18 overs, read 153/5 with Akash Singh (3/26) stealing the show.
CSK had gotten this far only because of Kartik Sharma's 71 which had revived them from 52/3. Mayank Yadav (0/26) did his part and now it was over to the much-appreciated Price Yadav to finish well. For CSK, they needed something special from the one man who had not come to the party so far. Shivam Dube. With Prashant Veer at No 7, the onus was on the senior batter to deliver a special knock to take them to a respectable total. They needed lots more to put up a fight, especially as they were without the services of the injured Jamie Overton.
Dube, who had struggled all through the season, was on seven off ten balls when he took guard against Mohammed Shami in the penultimate over. Desperate for a hit-me ball, he got a half-tracker from the veteran pacer and sneaked it for a four. Four balls later, Dube was back on strike against Prince, but CSK were still at 167/5. Now, came the freebie. A full toss in the arc and Dube sent it into stands for a six. Prince came wide and Dube sliced it over point for a four. Rattled, Prince went off radar and in the slot. Dube launched him down the ground to the boundary. CSK breathing somewhat easier, knew they needed one final push and an already-out-of-steam Prince delivered a half-tracker and came the six. Dube smashed 32 off 16 — 20 came off four balls — and Super Kings finished with 187/5.
It was a total they would have felt comfortable defending on the pitch that Overton may have liked. They had only beaten them few days ago at home, again thanks to Overton who took three wickets, breaking the momentum. He induced the collapse after Josh Inglis' madness.
Coming into this contest, the biggest question was who would do the hard job in the middle-overs? They had brought in Gurjapneet Singh and Spencer Johnson, but what they were not ready for was a Mitch Marsh mayhem. And it took only two balls with Marsh using his massive batswing and reach to hit CSK bowlers through the line.
Marsh started with consecutive boundaries off Mukesh Choudhary before turning towards Anshul Kamboj. Inglis did his bit with a six off Johnson, but the best of the lot came against Kamboj. Marsh charged at Kamboj in the fifth over to loft him over cover boundary. A hit over cow corner, another behind square followed before Marsh charged once again before pulling Kamboj into stands. Four sixes in as many balls. It was the over and moment where the hosts jumped ahead of the game.
Marsh, however, was not done. He stood tall to loft Johnson over mid-off. And that was just the beginning. Eighty six runs came off the powerplay off which 56 were from Marsh's bat. Inglis had the best seat in the stadium before joining the party. Together, they demolished the Super Kings bowling attack, hitting them across the park in such a way that the five-time champs were to made to look clueless.
With Marsh and Inglis, more often than not, it has always been the case. When the duo get going, they kill the contest in no time. Super Giants stumbled in Chennai but Marsh was not going to let it happen again. If there were any doubts, before even anyone realised, Marsh was in his 90s.
Even as Inglis fell, Super Giants comfortably chased it down, leaving CSK in a tricky place. They have to not just win the remaining two games — Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans — but also keep an eye on net run rate. Can they? Monday will tell more.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 187/5 in 20 overs (Kartik Sharma 71, Shivam Dube 32 not out; Akash Singh 3/26) vs Lucknow Super Giants 188/3 in 16.4 overs (Marsh 90, Inglis 36).
