Pune Warriors are looking like they are the team to beat in this year’s Indian Premier League. After crashing to an embarrassing defeat against Kings XI Punjab, they sprang back in action to pull up an amazing victory over the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
CSK, the most successful team in the cash rich IPL, are looking a little lackluster and they are showing some inconsistent performances this year. Pune Warriors led by Sourav Ganguly on the other hand is one of the less fancied sides in the tournament are looking in great rhythm. Pune Warriors are now at the top of the table and have three wins from four games, while Chennai have won two out of four games.
Let us have a look at some of the hits and flops from yesterday’s match.
Hits and flops of Pune Warriors
Hits
Jesse Ryder: The controversial left-handed opener from New Zealand, who was not able to set his foot right in tournament until yesterday, blew away CSK with his breezy innings of 73 of just 53 deliveries. Ryder, who is a great hitter of the cricket ball, smashed seven boundaries and a six en route to his match winning knock.
Steve Smith: The 22-year-old all-rounder from Australia is fast becoming one of the most dependable players of Pune Warriors. After playing a match winning knock of 39 against Mumbai earlier in the season, he played a great hand in helping his team stun the defending champions. He scored 44 runs of 22 balls at a stellar strike rate of 200. His knock consisted of four boundaries and a six.
Bowling department: Barring Ashish Nehra, all the other bowlers did well to keep a check on the run rate and help Pune in restricting the Chennai outfit under 160.
Flops
Ashish Nehra: Ashish Nehra, the most experienced name in their bowling attack, disappointed thoroughly in the match. On a day when bowlers were economical and made the opposition toil for their runs, Nehra was a little too generous and gave away 43 runs in four overs at an economy rate of 10.75.
Hits and Flops of Chennai super Kings
Hits
Faf du Plessis: Du Plessis is showing some great consistency in this year’s IPL. He has been getting runs in all the matches this season and yesterday’s match was no different. He scored 43 runs of 33 balls and hit five fours and two sixes.
Ravindra Jadeja: Million Dollar Boy Ravindra Jadeja is looking like a man on a mission to prove that the money spent on him by the CSK is worth in all respect. After putting up an all round match winning performance against Deccan Chargers, he impressed yet again with the bat yesterday. It was a tough day for Chennai batsmen out in the middle, but he played with great conviction and scored 44 runs of 26 deliveries, which comprised of four well struck boundaries and two sixes.
Flops
Murali Vijay: Vijay, who has been one of the most successful batsmen for Chennai in IPL, is somehow not able to play to his worth this season and he flopped again yesterday as he could score only eight runs of 11 deliveries.
Bowlers: The main reason for yesterday’s defeat and even Mahendra Singh Dhoni admit that. Their bowlers let them down big time in yesterday’s match. Out of six bowlers employed by Dhoni, only one could take a wicket.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary
Indian Sports News
