TheSportsCampus

One can only sympathise with Vijay Mallya as he saw his massive investments fail for the third time in a row, this time losing out to the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Michael Hussey was the star with the bat, scoring an enthralling 83 to propel his team to a strong total of 183 at the end of their 20 overs. Royal Challengers Bangalore fell short by 21 runs in their reply, losing almost in the exact same fashion as they did to the Mumbai Indians in their last match. Suraj Randiv and R Ashwin, the two off-spinners did the damage with the ball, bowling their 8 overs for just 47 and picking up 3 wickets.

MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on a completely bald pitch which gleamed in the afternoon sunshine. From the side that lost to Kings XI Punjab, Chennai made one change, bringing in Australian batting stalwart Michael Hussey for veteran Kiwi allrounder Scott Styris. Daniel Vettori too made one change to his team as Slam-Bang Asad Pathan replaced S Aravind in the Bangalore line up from their defeat to Mumbai.

Chennai Super Kings displayed their flexibility by sending Hussey up front with Murali Vijay to open the batting. After a slow start in the initial overs, the opening duo turned on the gas and mauled the likes of van der Wath and Dilshan. Zaheer Khan and Daniel Vettori opened the bowling yet again for Bangalore and kept it tight early on, but RCB displayed the infallibility as soon as the part timers entered the fray. The poor bowling was supplemented by despondent fielding. The ever so reliable Mohammad Kaif dropped Michael Hussey in the 5th over and one wondered how much his team would pay for it. The Super Kings ended strongly in the power play overs finishing with 45 on the board for the loss of only one wicket.

Murali Vijay didn’t linger around too long as his blitzkrieg was cut short by Ninan. The local lad was forced to depart for 31 but he had once again given Chennai a quick start. Suresh Raina walked in with great aplomb and persecuted the bowlers from the word go. The World Cup winning left hander scored a quick fire 29 to ensure his team’s deep batting line-up had it easy in the forth coming overs. Chennai seemed to have a simple game plan.

Michael Hussey provided the stability while every batsman coming in to partner him was given the simple task of clearing the fences. Michael Hussey raced onto 52 off just 42 balls, punishing RCB for the extra life they gave him. At the end of 15 overs, Chennai were 126/2 going at almost 8.5 runs/over. Vettori wrung in the bowling changes using wicket taker Ninan and medium pacer Kohli apart from employing himself in the middle overs.

Bangalore picked up wickets at regular intervals but they all seemed to come after the damage had already been done. The wickets fell in a heap in the last 5 overs, but Hussey, on his return to the team, ensured that CSK finished in a strong position. The Australian finished with a mammoth 83 off 56 balls to take his team to a marvellous score of 183 in their stipulated 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Dhoni (22), Morkel (9) and Badrinath (5) threw their bats at the vagrant Bangalore bowling and contributed with quick runs to give their side’s total a more intimidating look. Bangalore would be cursing themselves for not taking the wicket of Michael Hussey when the opportunity arose. They will feel let down by another weary and downtrodden bowling and fielding display. Another uphill task awaited the inconsistent yet supremely talented Bangalore batting line-up.

The Royal Challengers had yet another disastrous power play to start their reply as they notched up 33 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Dilshan’s IPL slump continued as he fell without troubling the scorers at the hands of Albie Morkel in the first over of the innings. Mayank Aggarwal and Asad Pathan followed suit without contributing too much to the Bangalore run chase. It was a collapse reminiscent to the Mumbai game. The Royal Challengers yet again were odds on favourites to lose a game, with the mercurial climb of therequired run rate and the rapid fall of wickets. The top order faltered collectively yet again giving the RCB team management some food for thought.

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were brought together yet again in another Herculean run chase and to no-one’s surprise it was the former who took the initiative. Kohli punished the opposition with his imperious batting reminding us of his fruitless heroics in RCB’s last game. His stay on the pitch didn’t last half as long though as he was dismissed for 35(28) while trying to clear the fence. His wicket all but ended any glimmer of hope Bangalore had of a turn in fortunes. Saurabh Tiwary came in to partner AB de Villiers in what seemed like an almost impregnable challenge. The wickets continued to fall but this time the South African wicket keeper held his own and took on the mantle. The lad with the locks from Jharkhand failed to make any impact and was back in the pavilion at the end of the 15th over. With only 5 overs left, Bangalore required a 72 runs at a mammoth 14.4 runs/over. Only a real miracle could clinch the game for the visitors and none looked forthcoming.

One man refused to give up though and his name was AB de Villiers. The South African ensured that the Chennai fielders were scrambling all across the park, submitting to the authority of his bat. De Villiers’ stellar knock was curtailed by his compatriot Albie Morkel and that really sucked the life force out of RCB’s reply to the Chennai target. Daniel Vettori and van der Wath required 31 runs off the final over and as predicted after the initial chaos, Bangalore were short by a considerable number of runs. RCB as reiterated many a time, failed to learn from their mistakes and as a consequence the team lose another game in almost similar fashion.

Bangalore with 3 defeats out of their 4 games look set to have a woeful IPL season, looking early favourites for the wooden spoon. Their problems lie far deeper than a mere lack in form of individual players and issues such as bowling tactics, basic fielding and motivation must be pondered upon heavily. They next take on the Rajasthan Royals at home on the Tuesday, the 19th of April and one hopes for the sake of their fans that they pull their act together.

The Chennai Super Kings are on a high after winning their second consecutive game on a trot. The World T-20 Champions with the arrival of Mike Hussey seem a lot more balanced and experienced side. They are definitely on the ascendancy now and one expects big things from Dhoni and company. Chennai move into 5th place with 2 wins and a loss and take on the Kochi Tuskers on Monday, the 18th of April.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings – M Vijay, S Anirudha, S Badrinath, SK Raina, MS Dhoni, MK Hussey, A Morkel, R Ashwin, SB Jakati, T Southee, S Randiv

Royal Challengers Bangalore – M Agarwal, T Dilshan, V Kohli, AB de Villiers, JJ van der Wath, SS Tiwary, CA Pujara, R Ninan, Z Khan, D Vettor, A Pathan

Mini Scorecard:

Chennai Super Kings 183/5 (20 overs, 9.15rpo)
M Hussey 81 (56) R Ninan 2-31
M Vijay 31 (21) J van der Wath 2 -49

Royal Challengers Bangalore 162/7 (20 overs, 8.1rpo)
AB de Villiers 64(44) S Randiv 2 – 24
V Kohli 35(28) T Southee 2-34

Chennai win by 21 runs

File Photograph