IPL 2020: Match 29 – CSK vs SRH – Who Said What

The 29th match of the Indian Premier League saw action between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai. Batting first, the CSK posted 167/6 on the board and won the much-needed game by 20 runs. The score came on the back of knocks by Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu, who showed some aggressive form with the bat. Watson (42 off 38) and Rayudu (41 off 34) kept pushing Chennai to post a good total.

Ravindra Jadeja was awarded the player of the match for his all-round performance on the field. Cameos by other batters remained essential to get CSK going. Young Sam Curran (31 off 21), MS Dhoni (21 off 13), and Ravindra Jadeja (25 off 10) maintained the flow of the game in CSK’s favour. Sandeep Sharma came out well with the ball as he conceded just 19 runs in his span of four over to pick two wickets.

Hunting down the decent total, the opening order of SRH failed to do the required job for the team. It was only Kane Williamson (57 off 39) who kept struggling at one end but didn’t get much support from anyone else. Sam Curran and Deepak Chahar remained quite economical, whereas DJ Bravo and Karn Sharma picked two wickets each.

Losing skipper, David Warner said

The wicket was on the slower side, I think we needed an extra batter. We tried to take it deep. You got one big boundary, so it’s not easy. We have to go back to the drawing board and work on few areas. I thought 160 was the right total to go after, but anything above that was always going to be difficult.

Having 6-7 bowlers in the team helps. It’s difficult to play against bowlers who can swing the ball. There’s always a challenge in the powerplay, but you have to take on the bowlers. We need to monitor the wickets in the upcoming games and select the team accordingly. Things (in the points table) are always congested in the middle. You got to beat the best teams, to make it to the top. We’ll be facing the top teams in the next few days, so I’m up for the challenge and so are the other guys.

Winning skipper, MS Dhoni said

Ultimately what really matters is you getting two points. What T20s have shown is that there are a few games that don’t go your way and then there are some that go your way even when you haven’t earned it. Today I felt we did a very good job even in the batting. There was some purpose with the bat and the batsmen assessed the situation very well. With a total like 160, it all depends on the start you get in the first six overs. The fast bowlers did the job, the spinners came into play and it was one game that was as close to being perfect.  It was a par score and I usually assess scores after the first six overs. If there are misfields in the first six overs then a par score becomes an under par score.

A lot depended on the fast bowlers. I just told them to be expressive on the field and hit their areas. There are some two paced balls, some swing and some don’t swing, some get extra bounce. What was needed was good execution of the plans and that was done by the fast bowlers. To an extent yes (these pitches). But we used an extra spinner because an Indian batter hasn’t done well for us. That’s why Sam Curran went up and it wasn’t fair on Jagadeesan as well to bat at seven or eight. Sam Curran is a complete cricketer for us. You need a seamin all-rounder, he plays the spinners well and he can give us those 15-45 runs.

Man of the match, Ravindra Jadeja said

Very happy to contribute with both bat and ball. I was backing myself and I was only looking to see the ball and hit the ball without pre-planning. The wicket looks on the slower side so I was just looking to bowl into the stumps rather than give them room. It is a difficult wicket for batsmen. Whenever I field, I always look for a good run-out or a catch.