Chennai Super Kings are the most in-form team in IPL 2021 as they clinched the fifth win in a row on Wednesday. With their openers putting on a show while chasing 172 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, CSK went back on the top of the table. Meanwhile, SRH continues to struggle in IPL 2021, languishing at the bottom of the table after suffering defeat on Wednesday.
MS Dhoni’s men are ticking all boxes in each game. They are able to outplay the opposition in all departments, which has eventually led to so many one-sided games involving Chennai Super Kings. Let us look at key takeaways from yet another victory for CSK against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
CSK openers are single-handedly setting up wins
In the past three games, CSK has highlighted the importance of a strong top order. On Wednesday, Faf du Plessis scored 56 off 38 deliveries, while Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 75 runs in 44 balls to set up the platform for a straightforward chase. The duo brought up with century partnership by the 11th over.
Having in-form openers allows other batsmen to flourish. There is much more clarity in the roles of the likes of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja. Courtesy of the form of du Plessis and Gaikwad, CSK back themselves to chase down big targets and also post very competitive scores on the board.
David Warner feels the heat
Another defeat in IPL 2021 further mounts pressure on skipper David Warner. Even though yesterday was a milestone match for Warner, completing 10,000 T20 runs, 4000 runs for SRH, 50 fifties, yet there have been issues surrounding his batting performances.
Warner is regarded as one of the best batters in the world, but lately, he has not been delivering his usual level of performances. Even after scoring 50+ yesterday, Warner was visibly upset throughout the course of his innings when he kept failing to connect with the ball. His slow innings did reduce the scope of SRH posting a total close to 200 on Wednesday.
What is going wrong for SRH?
Sunrisers seem to be way out of form this season, even with world-class players like Warner, Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan in their squad. They are thoroughly dominated by the opposition or they throw away games from winning position. The team is not coming across as a cohesive unit. The decision to underinvest during the IPL 2021 auction has backfired for SRH. They do like a team top-heavy and bowling-reliant team, but the middle order is probably the weakest in the competitions. Even the two reliable departments of the team are not clicking at the same time this season.
Even on Wednesday, Williamson and Manish Pandey took charge to help their team reach a higher total, but the bowling unit let them down. In fact, Du Plessis and Gaikwad have a strike rate of 150 against all their bowlers. It does look like making it to playoffs will be difficult for SRH as all departments are not stepping up at the same time to deliver complete performances.