Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis stroll Chennai Super Kings to victory

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The unstoppable form of openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis has been the cornerstone of CSK’s renaissance this season. In the first match in Delhi of IPL 2021, Rs 53 Crore Sunrises Hyderabad suffered a humiliating 7 wickets defeat at the hands of evenly priced Rs 53.4 Crore CSK. Yet again the protagonist of the victory was the 129 runs opening partnership between Gaikwad 75(44) and Faf du Plessis 56(38).

The Master and The Apprentice

Since last year’s IPL, Du Plessis was seen grooming 12 years younger Gaikwad while batting together at the top of the order. This year Gaikwad and Du Plessis are matching each other shot for shot. Chasing a target of 172, Gaikwad scored his 5th IPL fifty, while Du Plessis scored his 19th fifty of the IPL. The partnership was broken by Rashid Khan with a googly to dismiss Gaikwad. Moeen Ali 15(8) and Faf du Plessis 56(38) were his other two victims but by then the match was already lost. Ravindra Jadeja 7*(6) and Suresh Raina 17*(15) formed an unbeaten 25 runs partnership to see CSK through.

The Mixed Bag of Performance

SRH lost opener Jonny Bairstow 7(5) in the 4th over. Manish Pandey joined David warner at number 3 and started scoring freely. But the captain’s innings was one of frustration as he found fielders often than the boundary line. Pandey scored a flamboyant 61(46) with 5 fours and 1 six, perishing to up the ante. Warner scored a painstaking 57(55), which is incidentally his 50th fifty of IPL. In this innings, he also reached 10,000 T20 runs and 200 IPL sixes. His dismissal at the score of 128 in the 18th over, was a blessing in disguise for SRH. Batting at number 4, Kane Williamson smashed 26*(10) with 4 fours and 1 six ably supported by Kedar Jadhav 12*(4). The unbeaten cameos at the fag end of the innings enabled SRH to reach the respectable target of 171.

This is CSK’s 5th win in 6 matches while SRH has suffered 5 losses in 6 matches this season.

Here is a look at the top performers and laggards in the match:

PERFORMERS

Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs 20 Lakhs): Playing in his 2nd IPL season, Gaikwad is paying rich dividends to the faith of CSK management. In 12 matches he has scored 5 fifties and provided stability at the top. In this match he made SRH bowling look paltry by smashing 12 fours in his 75 runs innings. He yielded multifold ROI on his Rs 20 lakh salary, by winning the game for CSK. For his match-winning innings, Gaikwad was named man of the match.

Faf Du Plessis (Rs 1.60 crore): The proteas batting legend has been a consistent performer for CSK over the years. This year he has maintained his consistency by scoring 270 runs in 6 matches with 3 fifties. His score of 56(38) studded with 6 fours and 1 six, earned him the orange cap as he became the leading run-scorer of the season.

LAGGARD

David Warner (Rs 12.5 Crore): The man with the highest number of 50+ scores in IPL, finds himself in the list because of an innings that let the momentum slip from SRH’s grasp. Though the skipper scored 57(55), the pace of the innings put pressure on other batsmen to compensate. He was unable to time the ball and find gaps throughout the innings, allowing CSK bowlers to settle down. The SRH camp was banking on their skipper for their 2nd win of the tournament but his dismal batting followed by unimaginative on-field tactics led the team to their 5th defeat of the tournament.

In their next match, CSK will face defending champion Mumbai Indians on May 1 in Delhi. While in the bottom of the table clash, SRH will face Rajasthan Royals on May 2, at the same venue.