An outstanding bowling display from defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings saw the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders restricted to just 108-9 in their 20 overs in the clash between the two sides on Tuesday.
Chennai’s veteran spinners Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir were once again in their elements on a tricky surface at the Chepauk stadium with only Andre Russell able to offer some resistance.
However, Deepak Chahar was the real star with the ball for MS Dhoni’s men with the seamer finishing with excellent figures of 3-20 from his four overs.
Here, we take a closer look at his terrific bowling display against KKR.
KEY STATS
OVERS: 4
WICKETS: 3
RUNS CONCEDED: 20
ECONOMY-RATE: 5:00
30-SECOND REPORT
Opening the bowling with the new ball for Chennai, Chahar wasted no time in making an impact by pinning the dangerous Chris Lynn lbw in the very first over. The seamer was called into action in the very next over as well where he completed an excellent tumbling catch to send back Sunil Narine.
Chahar wreaked further havoc in his second and third overs which yielded the wickets of Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa respectively with his excellent bowling display up front allowing Kolkata to collect just the 29 runs in the powerplay overs. He finished his spell with another tight over at the death despite having to bowl to a well-set Russell.
How good was that effort from Deepak Chahar?#CSKvKKR #IPL2019 https://t.co/U1rDLQd73Y pic.twitter.com/lIOH2CmeRR
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 9, 2019
GOT RIGHT
On a pitch where the ball was keeping low, Chahar was smart enough to bowl wicket-to-wicket. Chris Lynn loves to free his arms against the pacers and Chahar made sure to give the Australian no room by cramping him up towards the leg-stump. That paid dividends with Lynn perishing lbw to a ball that stayed slightly slow.
Apart from that dismissal, Chahar was usually tight with his lines and lengths and made full use of the slowness in the wicket to dismiss Uthappa and Rana. He was also a livewire on the field and did well to hold on Narine’s catch.
How good was that effort from Deepak Chahar?#CSKvKKR #IPL2019 https://t.co/U1rDLQd73Y pic.twitter.com/lIOH2CmeRR
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 9, 2019
GOT WRONG
Very rarely did Chahar slack with the ball and on the field on Tuesday with the seamer’s only loose display coming in his third over. There, Chahar was too short to begin with and Uthappa duly punished him for successive boundaries. However, Chahar still did well to bounce back from those blows by having Uthappa caught in the deep a few deliveries later.
VERDICT – 9/10
The Rajasthan-born seamer played such a vital role in Chennai’s march to the title in 2018 with his 10 wickets which mostly came in the powerplay. He is back to performing the same role with distinction for the defending champions this season with his wicket tally for the campaign now extending to eight for the season.
On a slow pitch where spinners thrived, Chahar comfortably outperformed his fellow Chennai pacer Scott Kuggeleijn and showed why he is so important to the Super Kings.
With Lungi Ngidi and David Willey already ruled out of the tournament, Chahar will be Chennai’s main pace bowler and his good form so far bodes well for the side going forward.
