IPL 2019 | Player Ratings: Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir shine in Chennai Super Kings' biggest season defeat
Faf du Plessis played a solid knock at the top to break the shackles in the first innings while Imran Tahir returned from the ashes to bring CSK back into the game in the second. Sunrisers Hyderabad turned out to be too hot to handle as they handed CSK a six-wicket defeat with 19 balls to spare.
Shane Watson (3.5/10): With every game, Watson’s form is only wobbling. His most loyal fans have now started losing faith in him as his struggles look real. He was beaten in and out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball and while his non-striker continued to dominate the SRH bowlers, Watson looked rusty. Although the surface was a difficult one to bat on, Watson didn’t show any good signs with the bat and continues to raise questions on his place in the line-up. Â
Faf du Plessis (7.5/10): When opportunity knocks your door, grab it with both hands! Faf du Plessis has done exactly that when he got a chance to open for CSK this season and has been impactful since then. With Shane Watson playing a Test innings at the other end, it was pivotal for du Plessis to score briskly. After a sluggish start, du Plessis resurrected the CSK innings with some powerful stroke-play and smart hitting. He counter-attacked with some astuteness and was wise in picking the bowlers to go after.Â
Suresh Raina (4/10): In MS Dhoni’s absence, Suresh Raina was appointed as the stand-in skipper in this encounter. It’s not easy to fill Dhoni’s shoes and Raina did have a tough time
Ambati Rayudu (5/10): After being overlooked in the Indian World Cup squad, Rayudu’s hope was reignited when he was named among the standbys for the tournament. He got the backing of many cricketing pundits and
Sam Billings (2/10): A mistimed injury to MS Dhoni paved way for Billings into the playing XI for the first time this season. Just like du Plessis, Billings needed to make an immediate impact and the situation was tailor-made for the Englishman to make an impression. With Watson struggling at the top, Billings success in the middle would have pushed his case for an overseas spot in the line-up for the upcoming games.Â
Kedar Jadhav (2/10): The pocket dynamite didn’t blow off today as Rashid Khan destroyed the fuse with a googly early on his innings. Jadhav has a knack of scoring the tough runs and this was a tricky surface but Rashid turned out to be too hot to handle. He has been fizzling out lately and with the World Cup around, he needs to hit the top form. Â
Ravindra Jadeja (3.5/10): With the bat, one cannot expect a lot from Jadeja on such a difficult surface, but he could have done better than what he eventually did. He endured too many dot deliveries and denied a well set Rayudu from getting enough strike. Jadeja was economical with the ball, but the situation demanded wickets, which the left-arm spinner failed to provide. Jadeja certainly looks a different bowler when MS Dhoni is behind the stumps and his performance today corroborates the belief.  Â
Karn Sharma (2.5/10): On a surface where his imminent peers were troubling the batsmen, Karn Sharma hardly posed a threat. His maiden outing this season turned out to be a forgettable one as he leaked 20 runs in two overs in a low-scoring game. Did CSK miss a trick in not playing Harbhajan Singh on this surface?Â
Deepak Chahar (3/10): Not many things are as mesmerising as watching a bowler swing the white leather in a T20 game. Deepak Chahar has done it with unbelievable consistency. His back-to-back impressive performances have helped him secure a place for India in the World Cup as a net bowler. However, this performance was rather ordinary as he struggled with line and was too erratic. The conditions were conducive for bowling, but CSK seamers looked directionless. Â
Shardul Thakur (2/10): CSK’s performance tonight gave an impression of them being a toothless tiger in MS Dhoni’s absence, especially pacers. Shardul looked lost and had no control over his bowling. He ran out of options the moment SRH batsmen started cutting loose against him.Â
Imran Tahir (8.5/10): If there was any bowler who could change the game for CSK, it had to Imran Tahir, but there is only so much he could do. The best thing about a champion cricketer is his ability to rise from the ashes. After getting whacked by Warner in the first over, Tahir returned with two wickets and leaked just six runs in his next three overs to deny SRH an easy win. He is currently the best bowler in this edition with some mind-boggling numbers to his name. His already scalped 15 wickets at a staggering average of 12.86, simply fantastic for a spinner in this batsmen-dominate game.
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