Testing time for Chennai Super Kings

The Virat-Kohli led RCB, which edged out Mumbai Indians by 14 runs in its last game, will be eager to avenge its five-wicket defeat at home against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings, which too will be keen to swiftly get back into the winning mode after suffering two defeats in its last three games.

For the star-studded RCB, the clash is a must-win encounter if it has to stay alive in the tournament and qualify for the play-offs. The yellow brigade seems to have settled down well in its adopted home and has lost only to the Mumbai Indians here after shifting base after their first game in Chennai.  

But that comprehensive eight-wicket defeat against MI on April 28 followed by the six-wicket hammering by the Kolkata Knight Riders has shown chinks in the CSK armour, especially in bowling.         

The Chennai batsmen are on song and most are among runs with Ambati Rayudu, Australian Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, skipper Dhoni and Suresh Raina contributing when the team needed. Rayudu, especially, has batted well both as an opener and at number four, scoring 391 runs so far. If CSK decide to continue with South African Faf Du Plessis and Watson at the top, then Rayadu will again bat down the order.

Dhoni, who remained unbeaten on Thursday, has reminded his critics that he is not past his prime and if he hits those towering sixes again, it will pose a danger to the RCB attack. Chennai bowlers had been generally impressive with Shardul Thakur at the top. But in its defeats against MI and KKR, the bowling attack could not defend the scores put up by its batters and appears to be missing the services of injured Deepak Chahar. 

The pacers and the spinners led by veteran Harbhajan Singh need to play to potential to restrict a devastating RCB batting line-up, spearheaded by Kohli. RCB too has some batting woes to overcome with only Kohli performing consistently, amassing 449 runs in nine matches.

It will be eager to put South African batsman AB de Villiers, who has scored 280 runs in six games, back on the field. He had missed out games due to fever. These two batsmen are crucial to RCB's hopes. It also requires Quinton de Kock (201 runs in 8 games) and Brendon McCullum (122 runs in 5 games), who are yet to play to their potential, to chip in.

Even the likes of Mandeep Singh (204 runs in 8 matches) and Kiwi Colin de Grandhomme (45 runs in 3 matches), will need to get going if the CSK bowlers are to be tamed.

RCB's primary headache has been its death bowling as it has leaked runs in this phase. Umesh Yadav (11 wickets) and Yuzvendra Chahal (7 wickets) have stamped their class, but Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sunder (four wickets) have performed below par.  

Scores of over 160 have been a regular phenomenon at the stadium in Gahunje on the city's outskirts and with two strong batting line-ups squaring off, another high-scoring thriller is on the cards.

Sloppy fielding and lacklustre bowling let Chennai Super Kings down against Kolkata Knight Riders but coach Stephen Fleming strongly backed the side, saying one bad game does not mean it's time for "chopping and changing." 

One of the best fielders of Indian cricket, Ravindra Jadeja, dropped Sunil Narine twice on six, off KM Asif's successive deliveries, on Thursday. Narine was adjudged man-of-the-match with an all-round show -- 32 runs and 2/20 -- as KKR secured a handsome six-wicket win over CSK with 14 balls to spare. The loss also unsettled CSK from the top spot but Fleming hoped it's a one-off game as it hoped to get back to winning act quickly when it hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore at its adopted home Pune.

"We were exposed and I think sometimes it reflected on the bowling. Certainly we were on the backfoot with some good fielders making mistakes, it hit down a little bit," Fleming said referring to Jadeja's double blip. "Look, that can happen in a long tournament... It's not a great performance by any means but we have got hours rather than days to rectify. A loss is just a little slap on the face and hopefully it has not affected in day and half's time and there's still going to be hard work."

Its skipper MS Dhoni is well known for backing his players to make the best use of the resources as Fleming said it's not the time to "chopping and changing" yet. "We got to be careful that we don't get too carried away after one bad game where the bowling looked a little bit off. It's too easy to start chopping and changing after one bad game. Look those guys bowled us to a win in the last game. You just got be careful and not be too knee-jerk and make sure that you run the sequence long enough to see true form come through."

For a batting-heavy side that has posted 200-plus totals in eight matches this season, 177/5 may have looked modest by its standards but Fleming said it was competitive. "We were not that unhappy with 178, that's a pretty competitive target. We just did not start well enough, we had opportunities but could not take them."

In the midst of a slump, Jadeja was also lacklustre with both the bat (12 from 12 balls) and the ball (1/39) as Fleming urged him to buck up. "We lost a little bit of intensity, could have scored a little bit more in the last four-five overs... a little bit more obviously from Jadeja. He got to score more than run a ball if he's going to fill that role."

Giving credit to KKR spinners, Fleming said: "Their spinners were one of our main concerns. Narine is quality both at the start or at the end of the innings. The way he bowls, he takes a couple of overs out of your innings. He stunted momentum. It's just another night where we were just fractionally off and as a team we just can't afford to do that. We were not that good a side where we can have bad days and still get win. We can compete but the result is probably appropriate."

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni felt his side batted when the wicket was a bit slow and said the total of 177 was good enough under the conditions.

“If the wicket remained the same the total was decent, I felt this wicket was on the slower side but you have to hit the seam hard. When you are bowling the slower ball, if you can hit the seam then you can generate variable bounce,” said Dhoni at the post-match press conference.

“In the second half, wicket became much better under the lights. The easy way is to compare the two balls after 20 overs. Second ball will be in the better shape. Ball was coming nicely under the lights. Overall disappointed with the loss, we need to do better than this in the bowling department. A few more runs would have helped. We knew the kind of fielding we will do after the team was picked. But what is more disappointing is the guys are not aware on the field,” analysed the CSK captain.

“Your speed might not be too much but you have to be attentive in the field. 

Classic example is Hussey, when he was playing for CSK he was not the quickest but he used to anticipate really well and that used to give him extra second. That is the kind of commitment needed in the field. If no one is bowling well, keep shuffling bowlers around. If no one does well, game will be over soon. We are slightly on and off in the field. 

Keeping it simple helps, I think bowlers need to vary their pace and you need to be aware of the strengths of the batsmen and accordingly you need to bowl. You can tell a bowler a lot but when they have ball in the hand they are on their own,” added Dhoni.