CHENNAI: Bad turned to worse for Chennai Super Kings, a team who has seemed to run out of ideas in the Indian Premier League so far this season. In front of jam-packed loyal fans at MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday, the team that is considered to be a giant in the decorated league, slumped to their fifth successive loss of the season. Up against Kolkata Knight Riders, the five-time champions put up a meek batting performance to suffer a big defeat.
It was a new low for the team as they were bowled out for 103, their lowest total at Chepauk. Batting has been their area of concern this year and that was clearly evident on Friday. After being asked to bat first, CSK lost both their openers — Rachin Ravindra (4) and Devon Conway (12) — within the first five overs. That was just the beginning as the following batters struggled to cope with the KKR bowlers. Vijay Shankar, 29 off 21 balls, showed promise but fell against the crafty Varun Chakravarthy. Varun and Sunil Narine, who was adjudged Man of the Match, had a field day as the usually-dynamic Shivam Dube ( and R Ashwin, sent in to up the run-rate, failed to get bat on ball and struggled to get the required boundaries. CSK had a period where they failed to score a boundary for over 10 overs. Pacer Harshit Rana also had a night to remember as he returned with two wickets, including that of Ashwin.
Nothing seemed to be going CSK's way as it seemed like the batters were playing at some unplayable pitch. Ravindra Jadeja came in but was sent back before he could warm to the occasion. Deepak Hooda, the Impact Player for the night, was sent in to rescue the innings but he didn't last long either. Even MS Dhoni, who has made many rescue acts in his prime years, couldn't do much as he looked helpless.
Dube, who witnessed wickets tumble at the other end, remained till the close of the innings but ended with just 31 off 29 balls.
The score was never going to be enough as KKR batters finished the tie in no time.
It seemed like they were batting in different surface as the visitors chased the target within 61 balls. Narine, in particular, punished the CSK bowlers as he slammed as many as five sixes before being dismissed for 44 off just 18 balls. Captain Ajinkya Rahane was at the crease when Rinku Singh closed out the contest in style — he hit a six off Jadeja.
It was a forgetful night for CSK. And a night to remember for the likes of Narine and Varun.
Former India and CSK player Laxmipathy Balaji felt lack of match-winners, a player who has the ability to change the course of the game, is hurting the side. "During my time with CSK, as a player, we had any number of match-winners. By match-winners, what I mean is that on a given day, a player who is well-set, stays till the end and bails the team out. T20 is not just about power-hitting, but taking responsibility, playing according to the situation and going for a calculated assault," he remarked.
"As a coach, we can prepare a player keeping in mind the opposition. He (player) has to play the role allotted to him. It is up to the player to utilise the inputs and deliver. At the IPL level, where the quality is good and sometimes better than some International sides, one has to improvise and deliver," he added.
Brief scores: CSK 103/9 in 20 ovs (Dube 31 n.o, Shankar 29; Narine 3/13, Varun 2/22, Harshit 2/16) lost to KKR 107/2 in 10.1 ovs (Narine 44, De Kock 23).