From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter Akshay Iyer pens his post-match analysis of Rajasthan Royals against the Chennai Super Kings. Read on!
Rajasthan Royals were termed an ‘ordinary’ side by Delhi Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir some days back, but following their superb effort at chasing down 247, even Gauti may have applauded the efforts of Shane Warne’s team with the bat. Warne lost the toss yet again and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni chose to bat first on a belter of a track at the Chepauk stadium on a scorching Saturday afternoon, with the mercury touching 42 degrees. Spurred on by Murali Vijay’s 127 (the second highest individual score in IPL history), and his 152-runs partnership for the third wicket with Albie Morkel, CSK posted the highest team total in the history of the lucrative league (246/5). The partnership between Vijay and Morkel is the second-highest partnership for all wickets across the league’s three editions so far.
Vijay, coming off a smashing knock of 78 (39 balls) in CSK’s last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, was aggressive right from the start of his innings and continued in that fashion as he pummelled the Royals’ bowlers into submission hitting eight boundaries and 11 massive sixes as he scored 127 in 56 balls at a strike rate of 226.78. Vijay hardly played a false shot during his knock and got his runs with proper cricketing shots combined with timing and some brutal power hitting. Morkel had a lean run with the bat in IPL-3 until the match against Royals, but appeared to be spurred on to perform following his elevation to No. 4. Morkel started out slowly, but soon began to unleash his arsenal of powerful shots that have made him such a feared batsman in international cricket as he hit three boundaries and fives sixes in his 34-balls knock of 62 runs.
The Royals’ bowlers didn’t do themselves any favours either, as they were erratic in their line and length. In fact, Shrikant Wagh and Warne were lucky to get the wickets of Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina, respectively with full and wide deliveries that should have been left by the batsmen. Vijay and Hayden had got CSK off to a flier as the Chennai team scored 66/1 in the Powerplay overs. The inability of the Royals’ bowling attack to create any impression on Vijay and Morkel can be gauged by the fact that 155 runs were scored in the last 10 overs of the CSK innings, with 76 of those runs coming between the 15th and 20th overs. When the team batting first scores 246 in a Twenty20 match, nothing much can be written about the bowling effort. Even the Royals’ strike bowler Shaun Tait failed to test Vijay and Morkel with any short bowling around the rib cage, and the fact that he and the legendary Warne were treated with disdain is proof of the domination of the CSK batting duo.
To their credit, the Royals’ opening pair of Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha, showed they were up to the task, as they scored 62 runs in the Powerplays. Morkel’s double wicket over (8th over of the innings) when he dismissed Lumb and Yusuf Pathan, did rock the Royals’ chase, but it didn’t deter Ojha and Shane Watson from launching a breathtaking assault on CSK’s imposing total. Yusuf, who was one of the vital keys for the Royals to chase down 247, was caught brilliantly at the long-on boundary by Doug Bollinger, playing his first match for the Super Kings. It was then the turn of Ojha and Watson, playing his first match for the Royals in IPL-3, to take the attack to the CSK bowlers, as the pair sent the Super Kings fielders on a leather hunt, while whacking the ball all over the Chepauk Stadium. Ojha and Watson brought the Royals right back in the match with a third-wicket partnership of 97 runs in just over seven overs. Watson showed no signs of jet lag as he not only found the boundary at regular intervals, but also took the quick ones and twos to keep rotating the strike.
At the other end, Ojha was batting beautifully and played sensibly when Watson was on the rampage, and though the Royals’ wicket keeper-batsman didn’t drop gear, he wisely took the backseat while the Australian all-rounder was strutting his stuff. Just when it seemed that the Royals may pull off a remarkable run-chase, Bollinger castled Watson to all but end the hopes of Warne’s men. And, though Ojha continued to fight at the other end, and eventually finished unbeaten on 94, the Royals finished 23 runs short off their target. The Super Kings have Bollinger (4-0-15-2) to thank for putting the squeeze on the Royals’ batting line-up. A pity that Tait couldn’t do the same for the Royals!
The Royals have now dropped to 6th in the points table, and need to win at least four, if not all their five remaining matches, to qualify for the semi-finals. And, to win those matches, the Royals really need to work on their bowling and fielding, which for most of IPL-3, have been below par in my opinion.
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