Match 25 of the Dream 11 IPL 2020 saw the Chennai Super Kings take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai. The two fierce rivals have been part of many great IPL encounters and this season, the rivalry was set to continue. The subplot of recent years has also been that of the master versus the apprentice, with Virat Kohli taking on his ex-captain in MS Dhoni. The two are already legends of the game in India and around the world and while their partnership on the field was almost always breathtaking, their battles in yellow and red were becoming a sight to behold as well.
Going into the match, the Royal Challengers were on a decent run of form, having won three of their five games although they had suffered two big losses at the hands of the Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab. They did edge out the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous match by 10 runs and so, were looking to go on a winning run.
The Super Kings, however, were on a terrible run having won just two of their previous six games. The side was showing a form that was unbecoming of the three-time champions and although their net run rate was not all too bad, they needed points in the bag. The middle-order was a serious concern for the Super Kings and in their previous fixture, they succumbed to the Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs, after failing to chase down a target of 168 despite being 99/1 after 12 overs. Faf du Plessis had been the only consistent run-getter in the side and the Chennai outfit needed to find a purple patch if they were to keep up their record of making it to the playoffs in every season.
Before we dive into the analysis of this IPL fixture, let us also look at how the sides had fared in the different departments heading into this game.
Heading into the game
The Chennai Super Kings batting had scored an average of 46 runs in the powerplay heading into this game. Despite some seemingly slower starts, the average was fairly decent at a run rate of about 7.66. The opening pair had been a concern, however, with the side almost always losing an opener in the powerplay barring their 10 wicket victory against the Kings XI Punjab and their loss to the Rajasthan Royals. This would be interesting for the Royal Challengers as they would be looking to search for early wickets.
The middle overs seemed to be at a slightly slower pace, with the side averaging about 68 runs in this phase at an average run rate of 7.55 runs per over. They had also lost about 32.1% of their wickets in this period and as mentioned earlier, this was down to their worrying middle order. The Royal Challengers would be keen to exploit this weakness of the Super Kings especially with the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal in their ranks and that battle was one to look out for.
It was in the death overs that the Super Kings seemed to strike the ball the best, averaging 52 runs in the last five overs with an average run rate of 10.4 runs an over. However, 39.28% of their wickets fell in this phase as well and that is expected considering this is when most batsmen tend to look for the big shots and lose their wicket. While the average run rate does seem good, however, the Super Kings often left themselves with too much to do and as we saw in the games against the Knight Riders, Royals and the Sunrisers, the late hitting only served to reduce the margin of their loss.
When looking at the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting, we see that they fare slightly better in the opening six overs, averaging 49 runs in this phase at an average run rate of 8.16 runs per over. They also lost a fewer percentage of their wickets in this phase and the opening pair often got off to decent starts, with Devdutt Padikkal impressing in his debut season. The Super Kings would be looking to get his wicket early and to make inroads in the powerplay as much as possible.
The middle overs saw the Bangalore outfit fare worse than their counterparts as they averaged 62 runs in this stage at an average run rate of 6.88 runs per over. They also lost 34.5% of their wickets in this stage and this was something that the Super Kings would want to exploit and stem the flow of runs that could potentially flow from the likes of Kohli and AB de Villiers.
As for the death overs, the Royal Challengers averaged 42 runs in this phase at an average run rate of 8.4 runs per over and this figure is largely due to their big losses against Delhi and Punjab. They were bowled out in the 17th over against Punjab and despite surviving the 20 overs against Delhi, they had lost nine wickets by then as well. They would be hoping to avoid such performances against the Super Kings and to improve in this area.
Coming to the Super Kings’ bowling heading into this game, we see that they take the least of their wickets in the powerplay while conceding an average of 47 runs in this phase. The likes of Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran have been tasked with opening the bowling and despite holding the batsmen to an average run rate of about 7.83 runs an over, they have not been regularly picking wickets in this stage. This would mean well for the Royal Challengers, who lose lesser wickets in this stage as well.
The middle overs have been a concern for the Chennai side here as well, conceding an average of 80 runs at an average run rate of 8.88 runs per over. Their lack of early wickets has meant that they have often leaked runs in this phase once the batsmen have settled and begun playing their shots freely. However, they have also taken 43.2% of their wickets in this stage as well.
The bowling at the death has not been good for the Super Kings, conceding an average of 50 runs with an average net run rate of 10 runs per over in the final stages. Despite taking 43.2% of their wickets here as well, their costly bowling in this stage has seen them allow the opposition to reach higher targets and has undone their good work in the earlier stages. This is one area that the Royal Challengers would certainly look to capitalise on.
As for Royal Challengers’ bowling heading into the game, we see that they paint a similar picture in the opening stages. They concede the same number of runs as their counterparts in the powerplay and take 21.4% of their wickets in this phase of the game. This would be good for the Super Kings as they would look to build a strong opening partnership to offset their middle-order problems.
The Bangalore side have also conceded an average of 72 runs in the middle overs at an average run rate of 8 runs per over but have also taken 32.1% of their wickets in this phase. They would be hoping to break through the Super Kings’ middle order as soon as possible and put pressure on their batsmen as well.
Much like the Super Kings, the Royal Challengers have been expensive at the death, conceding an average of 58 runs at an average run rate of 11.6 runs an over. 46.4% of their wickets have come in this stage though and despite these wickets, it appears that they have leaked valuable runs at the death. This would make things interesting for the Super Kings should they find themselves in a tricky position chasing once again.
Now that we have seen how the sides have fared heading into the game, let us analyse their performances in this fixture and see if they have improved on their previous performances.
First innings
With the Royal Challengers Bangalore winning the toss and opting to bat, the onus was on the batsmen to give them a good score to defend. The side got off to a precarious start, however, losing Aaron Finch early having put just 13 on the board. Chahar found some good movement early on and after setting up the Australian with a few outswingers, he got one to nip back in and knocked his stumps in the third over. Finch was sent back to the hut for just two runs of his nine deliveries. This brought Kohli to the crease and thus begun a period of consolidation for the Royal Challengers. They ended up with 36 runs off the first six overs at a run a ball run rate.
The middle overs was more of the same for the Bangalore side, with Kohli and Padikkal running well between the wickets and looking to find the fence at least once an over. The Super Kings bowlers maintained a tight line and were hitting good lengths, however, and neither of the two batsmen could really push on and accelerate. An excellent 11th over from Shardul Thakur saw Padikkal hole out to mid-off for 33 off 34 balls and the very same over the newcomer de Villiers edged one to Dhoni behind the stumps to walk back without troubling the scorers after just two balls. Washington Sundar was sent in ahead of Shivam Dube and Gurkeerat Singh but even he knicked one behind off Sam Curran’s bowling and ended his innings with 10 runs off 10 balls.
At the end of the 15th over, Kohli and Shivam Dube were at the crease with the former at 42 off 33 balls at the time.
The death overs were nothing short of spectacular from the two batsmen. Smashing 74 off the last five overs at a run rate of 14.8 runs per over, Royal Challengers Bangalore completely took command of the game. Kohli ended with an unbeaten 90 of 52 deliveries and Dube played a handy knock for his 22 off 14 balls. Despite their poor batting at the death prior to this game, they dominated the bowlers in this match and put up a good score of 169 for the loss of just four wickets. It turned into a Kohli masterclass and it looked like the captain was back in form. The Super Kings’ bowlers, however, had once again lost the plot at the death and all the good work during the initial 15 overs had been undone. For the most part, they looked certain to restrict the Royal Challengers to a score of around 140 but their wayward bowling, compounded by Kohli’s fine innings meant that they conceded an extra 30 runs towards the end.
Second innings
Requiring 170 runs to win at a required rate of 8.5 runs per over, the Super Kings’ openers had to give their side a good start. However, both Shane Watson and du Plessis failed to do so, scoring very slowly and losing their wickets inside the powerplay as well. Sundar proved his worth as a powerplay spinner and claimed the wickets of both the openers, tempting Watson to play a slog sweep and knocking over his middle stump after having had du Plessis caught on the long boundary at mid-wicket. The run chase had got off to an awful start and the Chennai side found themselves at 26 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. The required run rate was up to 10.28 runs an over and Ambati Rayudu and debutant Narayan Jagadeesan found themselves at the crease.
The middle overs saw the two build a partnership although they were unable to match the required rate of above 10 an over. The two looked to hit a boundary an over but with the run rate increasing exponentially, they needed to find the fence more often. Jagadeesan, having replaced Kedar Jadhav, looked good on his debut and showed good intent but was unable to be the explosive force that the Super Kings needed. Rayudu on the other hand struggled to time the ball regularly and lacked the overall intent of his partner. The two put up a 63 run stand before some poor running cost Jagadeesan his wicket and he was sent walking for his 33 off 28 balls in the 15th over. The Super Kings scored 70 runs in this phase at a run rate of 7.77 but when Dhoni came in next, the side still required 74 off the last five overs.
The 16th over saw Dhoni show some good intent, hitting Chahal for a six on the third ball of the over and off his third ball as well. However, off the last ball of the over, Dhoni found himself fetching Chahal’s trademark wider delivery and holed out to long-off to end his innings at 10 runs off six balls. Curran was next and in spite of already playing a few good cameos earlier in the tournament, lost his wicket off his first ball looking to shuffle across and guide Chris Morris’ delivery over fine leg. The Englishman ended up edging the ball straight into the gloves of de Villiers and the Royal Challengers were inching towards a victory. Rayudu was sent packing by Isuru Udana the next over with a smart slower delivery that bowled him after he moved well across his off stump. Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo fell cheaply as well with the game well out of the Super Kings’ reach. In the end, they were 37 runs short of the total and the Royal Challengers could celebrate a complete performance from their side.
Impact players and key performers
Our very own impact index model analyses the impact of a player during his time at the crease. It, however, does not show their impact on the end result and focusses only on the player’s performance with respect to the average performance of the rest.
For the Royal Challengers’ batsmen, we see that Dube and Kohli had the highest impact in terms of the impact index. Kohli’s slow pace initially means that his index is lower than that of Dube. We have also identified Padikkal as a key performer ahead of Dube here considering his partnership with his captain and his score of 33 as well. The youngster has looked fearless in his debut season and despite a slow game today, he has shown himself to be one to watch this tournament.
As for the bowling, Morris shone for his side on return from injury and his three wickets at an economy of 4.8 saw him spearhead the attack. His performance was aided by Sundar, who picked up two wickets at an economy of 5.3 in his three overs. The off-spinner has been good in the powerplay and has shown the potential to be a regular wicket-taker for his side, making him an excellent bowling option for Kohli. Navdeep Saini and Udana were good with the ball as well, returning good figures while Chahal and Dube were a bit expensive.
For the Super Kings, Chahar was the pick of the bowlers with his three overs for 10 runs at an economy of 3.3 in the powerplay. The pacer was crucial in piling up the pressure on the Royal Challengers early on and despite taking just one wicket, bowled an impressive spell upfront. Jadeja was good with the ball as well, his two overs going for just seven runs in the middle overs. Although he did not take any wickets, his bowling restricted the batsmen in the middle overs and came at a time where the Super Kings looked to have their opposition under control. While Thakur took two wickets, he was expensive much like the other bowlers and hence they rank lower in terms of the impact index.
The batting index shows how poorly the Super Kings batsmen fared, with only Dhoni having a positive index owing to his strike rate and intent in his few deliveries. The key performers in Jagadeesan and Rayudu scored 33 and 42 runs for their side respectively but owing to their lower strike rates, rank much lower in terms of the impact index. Regular performer du Plessis had a game to forget as well, failing to carry on his good run of form. The Super Kings’ batting department needs some serious improvement and the experienced players surely need to step up their game in the coming matches.
Conclusion
A resounding 37-run victory for the Royal Challengers Bangalore saw them claim their ninth victory in 25 matches against the Chennai Super Kings. While they have more often than not been on the losing end of this fixture, they showed that they could not be taken lightly and put in a complete performance with the bat and the ball. They will be happy with the way they dominated the game and will be looking to push on and go far in the tournament.
As for the Super Kings, it is now five losses from seven and the side needs to massively improve if they are to even make the playoffs. You would usually never put it past them to do the unthinkable but this time, it looks like an even steeper hill for Dhoni’s men to climb.
