Dhawan's maiden IPL century, Axar's blinder powers DC to thrilling win over CSK , nearly ending their campaign to the play off

 Dhawan's maiden IPL century, Axar's blinder powers DC to thrilling win over CSK , nearly ending their campaign to the play off

17th October, Sharjah, IPL 2020

What a spectacular double header Saturday it turned out to be at the IPL which witnessed two contrasting matches - RR were coasting for victory and lost it to a game changing innings from ABD (when 76 were required of 42 balls) where he scored 55 of just 22 balls, (6 sixes) primarily going after unadkat and scoring 25 of the 19th over making it a simple finish. On the 2nd match between CSK and DC, it was a close encounter which went to the wire and finished as a heartbreak for CSK nearly ending their campaign to the play off. 

 Lets quickly re-live the match and analyse the game changing moments which cost CSK a win much to the disappointment for the fans who were rooting for the yellow army.

 

chasing a challenging target of 180 on a batting wicket at Sharjah, with smaller dimensions, Delhi got off to a poor start with Prithvi falling to the swing of Chahar for a duck in the 2nd ball of 1st over, it was left to Rahane and Dhawan to rebuild the innings. Rahane fell to a fantastic reflex catch by Curran, what is that he cannot do on a cricket field, leading to the skipper shreyas and Dangerous Dhawan, in supreme form with  3 Consecutive 50's before this match, to bat through if DC has to go anywhere near the target set. By the end of 10th over, DC were struggling at 76/2, however, CSK were at similar position with one wicket down.

Shreyas was not looking at his best and he fell for a run a ball 23 trying to clear the long on boundary of Bravo and excellently caught by Faf near the rope. Though wickets falling at the other end, Dhawan continued to dominate playing his trademark slog sweeps, clearing the infield on several occasions-   When he steps down and drives through extra covers, he is surely in form and CSK has to pay heavily for the dropped catches, 3 regulation catches dropped by Chahar, Dhoni  and Rayudu. The Spinners , who were the key architects on the victory over SRH, bowled poorly much to the liking of Dhawan and duly got hammered all round the park.

Stoinis excelled for 24, in his brief stay at the crease while Carey could carry on to strike it big - The asking rate was climbing steep leaving it Shikar to do the damage by himself when 21 was needed of the last 2 overs. At thus stage, Super kings were down and out but got a glimmer of hope through a stupendous 19th over from Curran which went for just 4 runs - Dhawan celebrating his maiden IPL century of just 57 balls.

Dhoni threw the ball to Jadeja to bowl the final over defending 17 runs, perhaps due to a injury to Bravo who was off the field. Jadeja missed his length and there comes a blinder from the left handed Axar (21 of just 5 balls), no mug with the bat, striking 3 huge sixes and getting DC over the line with a thrilling win - conquering Jadeja, the fellow left arm spinner and Super kings. Delhi regains the place in the top of the table where Super kings are nearly out of the play offs ( Though firm CSK believers still would say 5 out of 5 and we will be in play off)

Earlier, CSK opted to bat and showed real aggression and batted with purpose, withstanding the early wicket of Curran. Watson and Faf put on a steady 87 run partnership for the 2nd wicket laying the perfect platform for the middle order to attack - Du Plussis was set on a mission from ball one scooping the Speed merchant Nortje for a six  over fine leg, going after the DC bowling attack and scoring a 47 ball 58.

It was Rayudu show once Faf left and exhibition of flamboyant batting, the six over extra cover of Nortje was breathtaking, where he continued to take on the bowlers and joined by Jadeja to do set up things in the death overs to a commanding total. 45 (25 balls) from Rajudu and 33 (13 balls) from Jadeja, with 4 sixes each put DC on the firing line as 67 runs were plundered of the last 4 overs, something CSK failed to do in the previous matches. Barring Rabada, no bowler deserved respect and had their figures spoiled by the impactful batting plan from CSK.

Where did Super Kings lose the match?

Here comes the interesting segment - A postmortem of the heartbreaking loss which could have been won with few Tactics going right.

Jadav jumps in the 11 again - It must have been Meme time when Jadav was drafted back into the crucial game, having done nothing in this ongoing IPL and shown the door just 2 matches ago. On a smaller ground which needs extra cushion to have an additional bowler, wasn't defying cricketing logic to bring back kedar, if his form with the bat was horrendous and he is not into the bowling plans either. Skipper Dhoni must clarify to the fans who are outraged after the defeat.

Dropped catches, Dhawan makes Merry -  Dhawan was happy with the triple " Dasara festival" gifts given by the Csk fielders and as the saying goes ' fortune favours the brave, blugeoned the bowlers to a match winning century. The Fielding standard of the team, with few slow movers on the field, was way below par when compared to the other teams - yet another reason for the defeat.Had Dhawan been snapped up early, the match would have been won with a decent margin.

Why did Jadeja bowled the last over??

This is the question asked by everyone who follows the yellow army. While Dhoni clarified at the post match interview that Bravo was off the field due to an injury, was it wise to bowl a left arm spinner against 2 left handers with the ball turning into them making it easy to hit them with the spin? Karn Sharma was another option but did not have a good outing so as Jadeja ( Jaddu going for 35 runs in 2 overs).

Why not Kedar Jadav to bowl the final over??

 Though it may backfire to Dhoni on kedar selection if he fails, why couldn't he been tried to bowl the last over as a surprise element - Strategically, DC would not have expected him to bowl and might have some something silly and given him a wicket. Kedar is a partnership breaker and a unique style of bowler who is not easy to get underneath and clear the boundary. Being an off spinner, turning the ball away From the lefties, kedar could be the rabbit out of the hat Dhoni should have tried - But not to be.

5 wins of 5 matches is what CSK need at this stage -  Mathematically yes, Realistically no. Still the loyal fans root for the yellow for all the wins, titles and the entertainment provided over a decade. But I fear this is the end and a new dawn to begin next year with a completely new set of players.

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