Rahane rattles Kolkata to power Chennai to top of table
In what was the highest total of this IPL, Rahane hit five sixes in a 29-ball 71 at a strike rate of almost 245 against KKR on Sunday. Add to that Dube’s 21-ball 50 in an innings that witnessed 18 sixes and two consecutive stands that produced 73 in 45 balls and 85 off 32, all CSK needed to do was stick to the basics while bowling. KKR’s experiment of opening with Sunil Narine lasted three balls before a 26-ball 61 from Jason Roy stoked a murmur of hope. The spinners leaked some runs but not enough to cause concern as CSK cruised to a 49-run victory, propelling them to the top of the table.
There are victories and then there are landslides. Home and away, on slow, two-paced and quick pitches, Chennai Super Kings are slowly getting into their ruthless groove. Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad at home, and now Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, the precision with which CSK are scripting wins is expected yet surprising.
MS Dhoni has hardly batted. If Devon Conway makes you sit up one day, Shivam Dube does that to you the next match. Making death bowlers out of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana too is one of those CSK things you get used to. But Ajinkya Rahane as a middle-overs enforcer? That can give even the wildest cricket fantasy a run for its money.
In what was the highest total of this IPL, Rahane hit five sixes in a 29-ball 71 at a strike rate of almost 245 against KKR on Sunday. Add to that Dube's 21-ball 50 in an innings that witnessed 18 sixes and two consecutive stands that produced 73 in 45 balls and 85 off 32, all CSK needed to do was stick to the basics while bowling. KKR's experiment of opening with Sunil Narine lasted three balls before a 26-ball 61 from Jason Roy stoked a murmur of hope. The spinners leaked some runs but not enough to cause concern as CSK cruised to a 49-run victory, propelling them to the top of the table.
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A dropped catch was one of the earliest indications that things might not go KKR's way after they asked CSK to bat. A stronger premonition began building when Narine was hit inside out for six by Ruturaj Gaikwad, at a ground where his economy is 6.27 in 48 IPL matches. The tipping point possibly was the turned down referral of Rahane in the 12th over after spinner Suyash Sharma struck his back. All hell broke loose after that appeal as Rahane and Dube started peppering the stands with sixes, scattering CSK players from their dugout, leaving KKR at a loss for words and backup plans.
By the 15th over, CSK were 160/2 with Narine averaging 11.5 in two overs, Varun Chakaravarthy 10 in three overs, Umesh Yadav 11.66 in three overs and David Wiese 12.66 in three overs. The start itself was ominous — Gaikwad opening his account with a scratchy inside-edged boundary before Conway deposited Wiese over square-leg for six, one ball after he couldn't hold on to a difficult return catch from the Kiwi opener. After Wiese and Kulwant Khejroliya conceded 28 runs in the last two overs of powerplay, the floodgates were opened by Rahane and Dube.
Clean hits, cheeky sixes, scoops, reverse scoops, glances, pulls, hooks, spectacular cover drives – the next few overs saw it all as KKR began losing the plot once their spinners had been hit out of the track. Dube announced his foray with two sixes – first over midwicket before opening his stance and turning towards long-on – off Chakaravarthy.
Yadav returned next over, presumably to plug the leak, but he too was whacked for consecutive sixes by Rahane. Dube holed out to Roy at long-off in the 18th over, but Rahane was still not done. Nearly losing his off-stump after a scoop went wrong, he heaved Chakaravarthy over his head for consecutive sixes and a four before Ravindra Jadeja blasted two sixes to set up a daunting target for KKR.
