IPL 2023, CSK vs KKR Emotional Rollercoaster: MS Dhoni fraction of a second late, Narine finally strikes & Rinku nods to captain and does his own thing

Widest of wides
MS Dhoni did not give Matheesha Pathirana that skin-scorching stare of his. Neither did he seethe with anger. With expressionless eyes, he got up, received the ball from the deep and under-armed it back to Pathirana, who had just bowled arguably the widest wide of the tournament. Nitish Rana bats left-handed, had he batted right-handed the delivered ball would have still been adjudged a wide. It was not a case of the ball slipping off the sweaty palms, but Pathirana missing the radar altogether. Dhoni still flung, not the full-pelt one though, and managed to brush the ball, though not prevent it from reaching the ropes. Maybe, Dhoni knew the cause was lost long ago. And in the next over, Rana, his opposite number, sealed the win with a thick-edged four.
– Sandip G
Varun puts the brakes on
Ajinkya Rahane tried to break the shackles, taking on Varun Chakravarthy off the last delivery of the eighth over. It hurried onto Rahane who walked down to get to the pitch of the ball to loft it to long off for Jason Roy to pouch it. It was the second batter Chakravarthy had rushed into erring. After all the scampering singles and dashing doubles, Ruturaj Gaikwad had welcomed the new bowler Varun Chakravarthy with a swept 4 behind square leg. Earlier, Vaibhav Arora seemed to be cramping him leading to all those stolen singles to keep the scoreboard ticking. After he swept Chakravarthy’s floated delivery though, Gaikwad would miscue the next one tossed up, towards midwicket for two even while wanting to loft it. Next ball, Chakravarthy bowled a leg spinner which Gaikwad tried to lift but ended up outside edging it to Vaibhav Arora at short third man. The fielder was delighted, the bowler barely gave any reaction.
– Sandip G

A convincing chase and a special Knight in Chennai for @KKRiders 💜👏🏻
The @NitishRana_27-led #KKR are well and truly alive in the tournament 😎
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/d7m0BcEtvi #TATAIPL | #CSKvKKR pic.twitter.com/oZcq5Blj6G
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2023
Slogging against the turn
Ruturaj Gaikwad was so aghast with his shot-selection that led to his dismissal—an uncharacteric heave across the line of the ball—that he kept shadow-batting the stroke he should have played against Varun Chakravarthy’s leg-break. Perhaps he had made up his mind to swing for the fences that he did not bother picking Varun’s variation off his hands. It seemed he did not detect the direction of turn off the pitch either. Maybe he did, but was blinded over-confidence, for until that moment of indiscretion, he was batting serenely, essaying classical strokes. But something snapped and he decided to slog him against the turn. It was not just the turn that foxed him, but the bounce that ensured the ball bounced a bit more than Gaikwad had judged. The stroke that Gaikwad practised when he walked was the shot he ought to have played, an on-drive. But the wisdom of hindsight could be as smelly as rotten eggs.
– Sandip G
No half measures
It’s a stroke that has been Ajinkya Rahane’s nemesis numerous times across formats. The half-steer, half-dab to third man. It seems like an instinctive reaction to shortish deliveries outside the off-stump, then something pulls him back and he goes half-heartedly at the ball. Oftentimes, he ends up chopping the ball onto the stumps or edges to the slip cordon. But this is Rahane 2.0 where he has banished all half-measures, and whichever stroke he plays, he does emphatically. Here, he waited for Harshit Rana’s ball, a slow cutter, to almost go past him and then glide it with a deft touch towards the vacant third-man region. He blocked the next ball, Test-match style proper defensive stroke, before lifting the last ball over mid-on’s head for a six.
– Sandip G
Better late than never for Narine
A drought ends, another drags on. Sunil Narine, the T20 spin-bowling colossus, was wicketless for three games. This season, he could manage only seven wickets from 12 games before the CSK encounter. He has averaged 48 runs for a wicket; he has bled 8.50 runs an over. Similarly, Ambati Rayudu, had been enduring a lean patch, managing only 118 runs in 12 innings, at an average of 16 and with a highest score of 27. Then just like that, in the space of six balls, Narine rediscovered his mojo. First ball, he made the ball skid straight and blast Rayudu’s stumps. Then with the last ball, he bowled Moeen Ali with a carrom ball that hit the stumps. And he let out a roar, holding his hands aloft and striking a victory pose. His upturn of form seems to have arrived late, as KKR’s playoff hopes are slim. But as they say, better late than never.
– Sandip G
Fraction of second late for Dhoni
Anticipation bubbled when the no-ball siren blared. Vaibhav Arora over-stepped and Chennai Super Kings would get a free-hit. Most importantly, MS Dhoni was on strike and this could be the first Dhoni moment they might have waited for the whole evening long. The image of Dhoni’s whirling sixes of the past might have flashed in front of their eyes, as though like yesterday. Dhoni opened up his hips, as Arora began to load-up. The bat-swing was smooth and with purpose, the hawkish eyes became wider and as the ball began its downward plunge, Dhoni’s bat sped to meet the ball in a furious downward arc, only that he was a fraction of a second late, the ball slid under his bat, which swished the air with all its bottom-handed violence. Another day, another time, the ball would have to be fetched from the Wallajah Road. Not this time. How cruel a climax.
– Sandip G

Iyer goes chasing outside off stump
Venkatesh Iyer flashed outside the off-stump one too many times. He just stands where he is—no shuffle or pronounced transfer of weight—and throws his bat at the ball without getting his head over the front-foot. There is no pretense to reach the pitch of the ball either. In good times, his hand-eye coordination could save him—making the shot look effortless. Twice in Deepak Chahar’s second over he crashed him through covers for a pair of fours. But the fourth ball was slightly fuller and Iyer flung his hands at it. This time, though, he lost his shape, the head flailed and the upper body quivered, and ended up thick-edging the ball to Ravindra Jadeja at short-third man, the in-vogue catching zone in this IPL.
– Sandip G
Lening to the captain
After Rinku Singh blocked the first two balls of the ninth over, bowled Moeen Ali, Kolkata’s captain Nitish Rana gestured him to stay calm and carry on. The required run-rate was within grasp, less than eight runs an over, the surface offered grip and turn, Ali was bowling his best spell of this edition. KKR had lost their openers, and hence a bit of caution, even in a T20 game, would not harm them. Rinku nodded in agreement, but the next ball he stepped out and carved Ali through extra cover. He gazed at his captain and flicked a thumb’s up, as if telling him he was batting calmly. Rana walked up to him and told him again to calm down. The next ball, he went deep in the crease and looked to cut from the stumps. He didn’t middle the ball, but the thickish edge sufficed. This time, Rinku did not even bother looking at Rana.
– Sandip G