Lucknow Super Giants edged out Delhi Capitals in a thriller in the day game while Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 13 runs after a 182-run opening stand between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway laid the platform for a 200-plus total.
Lucknow jumped to the second spot in the points table with the win while CSK went level on points with KKR. Here we raise a few burning questions while dissecting the two matches.
Did Rishabh Pant’s slowdown cost Delhi the game?
Delhi Capitals seemed to be on course to chase down the target with Rishabh Pant and Mitchell Marsh slamming 53 runs in three overs to close the powerplay. At 66/2 after six overs, Delhi were ahead of the game and on course to chase the target down, especially with Pant regaining his aggression. Marsh’s dismissal in the eighth over, though, pegged Delhi back. Pant, who was on 28 off 12 balls at that point, slowed down to make 16 runs off his last 18 balls. Notably, off his final 11 balls, Pant made just two runs.
Although Delhi also lost Lalit Yadav in that time frame, Pant’s inexplicable slowdown despite his audacious stroke-making earlier in the game left Delhi needing 76 in seven overs with five wickets remaining when Pant was cleaned up by Mohsin Khan. Even with Rovman Powell going all guns blazing at the other end, in the seven overs after the powerplay, and until Pant’s dismissal, Delhi struck at a rate of less than eight runs per over. Did it cost Delhi the game? Arguably. If Pant had gone on to bat further from that point, it might have changed the equation, but his dismissal left Powell and Axar Patel with too much to do.
How good has Mohsin Khan been?
In four matches, Mohsin Khan has taken eight wickets, going at an economy rate of 6.07, notably doing a good job early on and in the back of an innings. The left-arm quick has bowled six overs for 41 runs in the powerplay so far and while it has returned only a solitary wicket, the economy rate of 6.83 is impressive.
Mohsin has also added death overs value, taking four wickets in the final four overs while going at an economy rate of six runs per over in three overs. While the sample size is low, the left-arm quick has so far made an instant impact with his presence for Lucknow Super Giants. In the absence of Avesh Khan, Mohsin is proving to be a useful bowler who can be effective across phases.
Why Ruturaj Gaikwad is a better fit for the middle-order?
After a record-breaking 182-run opening stand, this seems like the wrong question to ask, but on a flat track with good pace on the ball, Ruturaj Gaikwad showed how dangerous he can be, especially through the middle overs. Last night, he smashed 68 runs in 31 balls in the middle overs, scoring at a rate of 219.4 with nine boundaries in those 31 balls.
Gaikwad’s acceleration has always been a topic of interest. Among batters to bat at least 100 balls in the first six overs since 2020, Gaikwad’s strike rate of 108.6 is one of the lowest in the league, but in the very same period, his strike rate in the middle overs is the fourth-best in the league.
Gaikwad’s returns early in the season on fresh wickets with more movement have dented his overall returns in all three seasons. The opener does not quite like movement through the air as we saw earlier in the tournament where he had a horrible run at the top. But once he gets through that phase and bats into the middle overs, Gaikwad turns into a beast. It raises questions on whether Gaikwad is a better fit as a middle-order batter, playing a Suresh Raina-kind of role at No.3.
While he can arrest a collapse if an early wicket falls, Gaikwad can also start off against spin or pace with minimal movement off the deck if he comes in to bat in the middle overs. With CSK having Robin Uthappa and Devon Conway, two contrasting, yet more impactful powerplay batters, would it be better to use Gaikwad at No.3?
Why Kane Williamson should not open for SRH?
Kane Williamson made a 37-ball 47 in a run chase of 203 from the top of the order, a difference of nearly three between his run rate and the required run rate of the team. The opener has had a negative impact through the powerplay overs, clocking a strike rate of 83.62 in this phase, the worst for any batter in the season. Williamson’s range through the middle and death overs arguably makes him a better fit for the middle-order with Sunrisers Hyderabad having an established opener in Aiden Markram batting through the middle overs.
While Markram has had a great season, his returns have been many times better against pace than spin, and the role of an opener is something at which he has thrived previously. Sunrisers Hyderabad need more impact through the powerplay overs to ease pressure on the middle-order and moving Williamson away from the top-order role could be one answer.
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