Chennai Super Kings slumped to their second loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) on Thursday after losing to Lucknow Super Giants in a thrilling contest at the Brabourne Stadium. This is also the first time in history that the four-time IPL champions have lost their opening two matches in a season.
(CSK vs LSG HIGHLIGHTS | POINTS TABLE | IPL SCHEDULE)
Under new captain Ravindra Jadeja, CSK have lost both games while defending. Chennai Super Kings had lost their opener to Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26. The dew factor in Mumbai and bowling inexperience at the death were among the two reasons for Thursday's loss.
With the likes of Robin Uthappa, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu chipped in with some valuable runs on Thursday, the absence of injured fast bowler Deepak Chahar is hurting CSK the most. To make matters worse, CSK were sloppy in the field too against LSG.
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Here are the three factors that cost Chennai Super Kings the game against Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday.
Moeen Ali Drops De Kock
Catches Win Matches! Playing his first game in the ongoing season after arriving late due to his visa-related issues, Moeen Ali dropping Quinton de Kock proved costly for Chennai Super Kings. The incident happened in the final over of the powerplay as LSG chased 211 for victory. Batting on 28, the South African hit straight to the hands of Moeen Ali at extra cover, but the ball popped out of his palms. De Kock was finally dismissed by Dwaine Pretorius in the 14th over for a 45-ball 61 but by then, the damage was already been done.
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Shivam Dube's Inexperience
CSK were very much in the game till the 18th over but inexperience in the final two overs cost them their first IPL 2022 win. With 34 runs needed in the final 12 balls, Ravindra Jadeja’s decision to hand over the ball to Shivam Dube backfired. The duo of Man-of-the-Match Evin Lewis and Ayush Badoni smashed Dube for 25 runs, to bring the equation down to nine from the last over.
Although Jadeja and Moeen Ali had their overs left, the wetness of the field forced the former to go with Shivam Dube’s medium-pace. “It was very hard to, one, grip the ball for a spinner and, two, to be effective,” CSK head coach Stephen Fleming reasoned behind handing the ball to Dube in the 19th over. Badoni hit debutant Mukesh Choudhary for the winning runs.
Absence Of Deepak Chahar
One of the major reasons for Chennai Super Kings’ dismal run in the first two games is the unavailability of premier pacer Deepak Chahar. The right-arm pacer suffered a quadricep tear in the third T20 against West Indies last month in Kolkata. It is likely to take several weeks to heal. That means, Deepak Chahar, the Rs 14-crore buy will miss the majority of the IPL.
Since 2018, Deepak Chahar has picked up 58 wickets in as many matches with 42 of those coming in powerplay – an ability that CSK are missing the most this year. Besides his wicket-taking skills early in the innings, Deepak Chahar also provides the team with much-needed help with the bat down the order. In his last three ODIs for India, Chahar has hit 69 not out (vs Sri Lanka), 54 (vs South Africa) and 38 (vs West Indies).
