IPL 2024, Skipper's Failure To Wayward Bowling - 3 Things That Went Wrong For CSK

SRH defeated CSK by six wickets [iplt20.com]SRH defeated CSK by six wickets [iplt20.com]

The Sunrisers Hyderabad bounced back after a defeat against the Gujarat Titans in their last match by thrashing Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in match 18 of 2024 IPL.

Batting first, CSK were restricted to 165 runs as SRH bowlers managed to peg back with wickets and break possible chances of bigger partnerships. Their slog overs bowling was also excellent, backed by a dominant display with the bat in the powerplay by Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head. They scored 78 runs inside the powerplay for the loss of a solitary wicket, winning half of the battle then and there.

Let us analyse the top three reasons behind CSK’s loss against SRH on Friday.


Failure of Openers

The CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra are not having a rosy time in the middle since their last couple of games. Ravindra fell early while Gaikwad failed to convert his double digit score, thereby putting pressure on the middle and lower middle order.

The two games that CSK won at least Gaikwad or Ravindra fired, thereby making it easy for the batters in the queue. However, things went haywire against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad where the opening stand read 3 and 25 respectively. Ravindra scored 12-2 and 9-ball 12 while Gaikwad could manage 2-ball 1 and 21-ball 26 in the respective games.


Finishing struggle

Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube worked well together to stabilise the CSK innings after early jitters. Dube even switched gears and produced boundaries that helped CSK command on a tacky surface. However, it was the failure of the lower middle order that left CSK short by almost 20-25 runs in the end.

The Yellow Army were 115/2 after 13 overs, and suddenly Ravindra Jadeja and Daryl Mitchell failed to continue with the momentum after the fall of Dube and Rahane. CSK accumulated just 50 runs in the last seven overs with Mitchell striking at 118.18 and Jadeja going at 134.78.


Injured in-form pacers

Another major concern that has struck the CSK camp is the injury of their premier fast bowlers- Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana. While the former is likely to be out for quite some time, the latter suffered a niggle as per Gaikwad during the toss. With the Asian fast bowling duo missing, Mukesh Chaudhary, Maheesh Theekshana and Moeen Ali failed to fill the void. Although the spinners were bit economical, Mukesh went for 27 runs in his only over that changed the course of the game to a great extent.

Mustafizur scalped seven wickets so far in the tourney with a four-for against RCB in the curtain raiser. The black soil wicket used in Hyderabad on Friday was tailor-made for the Bangladesh pacer who heavily relies on his mastery of cutters.