Chennai Spin Kings: Ravindra Jadeja’s deadly spell, Devon Conway’s explosive batting lead CSK to win over SRH

SYNOPSIS: The Chennai Spin Kings showed up at Chepauk for the first time this season and Sunrisers Hyderabad who were in a muddle, helped Ravindra Jadeja dig their own grave.
A win for Chennai Super Kings was imminent the moment Sunrisers Hyderabad managed only 134/7 while batting first. For the first time this season, the MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch behaved true to its old characterics, where spinners get enough bite off the surface making it challenging for visiting batsmen to adjust to its nature. On such days, even the best of batting line-ups with clear-cut strategy can falter. And Sunrisers Hyderabad, for reasons best known to them, tinkered with their batting unit. They missed a trick or two not bringing in their best spinners – Mayank Markande and Washington Sundar – early, as Chennai Super Kings coasted to a seven-wicket victory and go third in the points table with their fourth win.
A target of 135 was never going to trouble the in-form Chennai batting line-up and Devon Conway top-scored with an unbeaten 77 off 53 deliveries to anchor the chase. The Kiwi stitched an 87-run opening partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad in 11 overs. With every passing match, he looks more and more assured, and has been giving the Super Kings the sort of start that straightaway puts pressure on the opposition. They did stutter in the middle after Gaikwad’s dismissal, but the outcome was never in doubt.

Moeen Ali wraps the chase in style and @ChennaiIPL complete a clinical chase 👏👏#CSK continue their winning run with a 7⃣-wicket win over #SRH 👌👌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/0NT6FhLKg8#TATAIPL | #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/L3ZXTjGWKP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 21, 2023
Mixed signals
Not many teams have the sort of resources to breach the fortress called Chepauk. Unless you have a set of spinners who can exploit these conditions and have a batting line-up to complement it with putting up a par total, the contest can unravel quickly. In this IPL, Rajasthan Royals already showed the Super Kings are not invincible at home, and Sunrisers Hyderabad had an opportunity on Friday to further establish the merits of it. On paper, they have arguably one of the strongest all-round squads that allow them to field a balanced XI that can make the most out of any given condition.
A batting lineup that includes Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Heinrich Klaasen, Abhishek Sharma, and Washington Sundar may not be intimidating with muscle power, but they are still capable of providing enough fireworks. And ditto with bowling, if there are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, and T Natarajan for pace, they have Washington, Mayank Markande, Adil Rashid and Mayank Dagar to man the spin department which makes for a reliable bowling unit. Not many teams enjoy such luxuries and it was precisely the reason why many predicted them to make the playoffs.
Instead, six matches into their campaign, with every passing game Hyderabad look to be the team that is not making the most of their resources. As the talented Brook struggled in the middle order, they chose to open with him, demoting the promising Sharma down the order. And on Friday, it was Agarwal’s turn to earn a demotion as Sharma opened with Brook with the former coming in at No 6, which meant Washington – another promising batter – walking in at No 8.

MSD Brilliance x 2⃣
There’s no room for errors with @msdhoni behind the stumps 😎
WATCH🎥 #TATAIPL | #CSKvSRH https://t.co/Vkg11nBnJE pic.twitter.com/KakZuuKoBR
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 21, 2023
Such shuffles tend to bring with them their own downfall. It leads to creating doubts in the minds of batters, and more importantly, it also sheds a light on how the franchise has been poor in terms of backroom planning. Such complexities are not the hallmark of a settled team, which is elementary in a tournament like the IPL where one bad result can lead to another and have a domino effect. It is one thing to be flexible in terms of shuffling the batters, but totally different to bring in flexibility without clarity in roles. Sunrisers Hyderabad fall more into the latter category, making one question the wisdom of their think-tank. That they brought in left-arm spinner Dagar as Impact Player against a team that has four left-handed batters in the top 7 was even more perplexing.
Jadeja spins doom
On a pitch where MS Dhoni chose to bowl first, the onus was on the batting unit to put a total in the range of 170-180 and let the bowling unit take charge. The cloud cover over Chepauk meant dew was not going to be a big factor while bowling second and with a par total in play, the likes of Washington, Markande and Dagar would have been in play with the pitch getting slower through the evening.

Aiden Markram ✅Mayank Agarwal ✅
Maheesh Theekshana & @imjadeja with the breakthroughs and @msdhoni with his magic 😉
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/0NT6FhLcqA#TATAIPL | #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/8YqdnUE3ha
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 21, 2023
Instead, the commotion in the batting order meant Hyderabad managed only 134/7 in 20 overs. A support staff that includes Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Dale Steyn may have all the experience in the world as former players, but it was another game where they once again came short on the tactical front. More than the shuffle in the batting department — one that threw more questions than answers – Hyderabad were caught like sitting decks when Ravindra Jadeja spun a web around him, picking the wickets of Sharma, Tripathi and Agarwal in a single spell of 4-0-22-3. With Jadeja getting enough turn to keep the batting order quiet, one wondered if they had erred in not keeping Sharma in the middle order or did they miss a trick sending Washington to counter him. With Hyderabad’s batting lineup struggling to find boundaries, Chennai’s spin trio of Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana conceded 89 runs in 10 overs and accounted for four wickets. Death-over special Matheesha Prathirana, fresh from an impressive outing against Royal Challengers Bangalore, bowled with new-found confidence. Coming on to bowl at the end of the 10th over, he conceded only 22 runs in his four overs and picked up the wicket of Klaasen.