Sometimes, all a team needs is just one good game to get back on track. The beleaguered Chennai Super Kings will be hoping exactly for that against fellow-strugglers Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two sides meet in the day and night encounter at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Saturday.
Worst start
Defending champion Super Kings have had their worst start in the tournament, losing all the three matches. Inconsistency in batting and bowling has hurt the Chennai side this season. The bowlers failed to defend a huge total against Lucknow Super Giants, while batting came a cropper against Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
Vintage Dhoni rolled back years against Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants but there were no comeback wins for the side. The team has missed Deepak Chahar’s customary early strikes. Though the bowlers did well to restrict Punjab in the last match, the batters let the team down. The team needs to fire collectively to turn things around.
After being pounded into submission by Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers threw away a match it should have won against Super Giants. It lost wickets in a hurry at the death and contrived to lose. The bowling unit has regrouped to some extent after its listless show against the Royals. Umran Malik has breathed fire but needs to be more consistent with his line to become dangerous for rival batters.
Captain Kane Williamson will be seeking a bit more consistency from his players especially the batters. And they need to be at the top of their game to tame the wounded Super Kings and to open the account in the points table.