Batting First is The Template for Victory

With the season progressing, the template for victory has done a 180-degree turn. The teams have become acclimatised with conditions are comfortable with the playing conditions,  reports Vijayhardik, exclusively for Different Truths.

The first week of the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw teams chasing down totals to win matches. With the obvious few exceptions, win the toss and choose to bowl was the winning mantra.

With the season progressing, the template for victory has done a 180-degree turn. The teams have become acclimatised with conditions that are comfortable with the playing conditions. Across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah teams have scored freely making the games interesting. With a par score of 170, the IPL this season has been a run-fest.

The number of lopsided matches in the IPL has shot up by a few numbers in the last few matches. While most of the matches go down to the wire and teams hold their nerve to take the game close; a few games have been lost by teams before they went that far.

Some of the matches the teams have lost have been close. But the others were way too one-sided. The trend began with the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals at Dubai. Playing at Sharjah, the Royals looked a formidable unit within reach of the aura of invincibility.

But since their games moved out of Sharjah they have ended up on the wrong end of the stick. The larger grounds at Dubai and Abu Dhabi is just one of the reason. But the consistent failure of the Rajasthan post the Sharjah highs has wrecked their chances of trying to win games.

Starting with the game against Kolkata, a collective batting effort by the Knight Riders pushed their total to a decent 174. Chasing this total down, the loss of Smith, Samson and Uthappa within the powerplay derailed their chase. They just managed to play their stipulated 20 overs scoring 137. They lost the match by 37 runs.

Last night against Mumbai, it was a similar performance. With batsmen chipping in with quickfire 20s and 30s around the standout unbeaten knock of 79 by Suryakumar Yadav helped Mumbai Indians score 193 runs. Chasing down a stiff target of 194, the batting mainstays of the Royals, Steven Smith and Sanju Samson along with young opening batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal were out for low scores within the powerplay.

Against a potent Mumbai bowling attack being led by Jasprit Bumrah who ended up with figures of 4/20 in his full quota of overs saw Rajasthan bundled out for 138. They did not even get to play their 20 overs.

While the thread on Rajasthan’s losing streak extends, they tried to change this against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Electing to bat first, they wanted to put runs on the board and defend the total. But they could not avoid losing three wickets in the powerplay that hamstring their innings. A better batting performance saw them put up a total of 154 on the board.

A splendid batting display led by upcoming southpaw Devdutt Padikkal and captain Virat Kohli who announced his return to form with a half-century led Bangalore home without breaking much sweat. They registered an eight-wicket victory with 10 balls remaining.

Now let me get to the exceptions of the week. Both the games have the presence of the Chennai Super Kings. In the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they lost it by a narrow margin of 7 runs. The other game Chennai chased down a total in excess of 170 without much ado.

In a week that saw a lot of one-sided contests, this match went down to the last ball of the last over. Hyderabad batting first put on a decent total. It was due to the temperament displayed and the partnership built by upcoming Indian talent Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma. A quickfire half-century by Garg propelled the score to 164.

The second half of the match saw Hyderabad bowlers dominate the proceedings. With the batting prowess of Chennai, these totals appear achievable. But it is their batting that has let them down. They kept too many runs for the last few overs. Even Dhoni was feeling the heat. Despite Ravindra Jadeja scoring 35-ball 50 or Dhoni trying to win it for them, they fell short. It was their worst start to a season, and they lost three matches in a row chasing down totals.

The other game is the match against the Kings XI Punjab. Chennai were up against Punjab at Dubai. The batting line-up of Kings XI Punjab is a formidable unit. It is living up to its reputation this IPL. In the match against Chennai, they once again had a strong start. With captain K L Rahul leading the way and other batsmen contributing they were on course for a huge total. Until a double strike from Shardul Thakur curtailed their innings to a total of 178.

With the Chennai batting line-up disappointing record this season, there were doubts about the run chase. But what people witnessed was batting at its finest. Watson and Faf du Plessis taking calculated risks made the best of powerplay for Chennai this season. As the game progressed, the shoulders of Punjab players began to droop. Watson and du Plessis were matching each other shot for shot and finished with unbeaten individual scores of 83 and 87 in the same number of balls.

They put on Chennai’s best partnership ever in the IPL scoring 181 runs between and winning the match for the team. Chennai Super Kings won the match by 10 wickets. With the tournament heading to the halfway stage, this is starting to heat up. With the fluctuating points table and teams hitting and losing strides, the next few matches might decide how many teams will compete for the fourth spot in the playoffs.

The matches to watch out for this week are Chennai Super Kings versus Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad versus Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Kolkata Knight Riders. These matches might have the biggest impact on the points table this week.

Photos from the Internet.

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