The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) had started just more than a week ago, but the fans have already witnessed exhilarating action. Being played for the first time in a caravan format, none of the teams are having a home advantage. In what is seeming to become a trend, at Chepauk, teams are finding it difficult to chase the total and former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag has seen the funny side of things.
On Saturday, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) faltered while chasing a modest total of 151 runs against Mumbai Indians (MI), and it was SRH’s third consecutive loss of the season in Chennai. The regular fall of wickets broke their back and they eventually fell 13 runs short of the target with both Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult wreaking havoc in the death overs after Rahul Chahar taking three crucial wickets in the middle phase.
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This was not the only instance of Hyderabad failing to chase down a below-par score, as they went down against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) a few days ago at the same venue while chasing nearly a similar target (149). 96/1 with David Warner and Manish Pandey were looking to taking the team home comfortably, but a spirited comeback by RCB had restricted SRH six short in a dramatic end.
The disease of collapse at Chennai has not been exclusive for SRH as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) succumbed when they were requiring 31 from 30 deliveries against MI in a chase of 153 and lost the game by 10 runs.
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With as many collapses unfolding at the same venue, Virender Sehwag took a dig at the chasing teams through an Instagram post, where a couple of persons can be seen battered, bruised, and perplexed. Referring to them as the teams “trying to chase in Chennai”, Sehwag shared a moment of truth indeed.
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David Warner, the Hyderabad skipper, sounded quite bemused after the loss as they lost back-to-back games in a similar style. During the post-match presentation l, Warner was heard saying, “I don’t know how to take that. Obviously disappointing. Two of us [David Warner and Jonny Bairstow] were set but it proves that if you don’t bat deep, you can’t win. If you get a partnership and if there is one person at the end, you can chase it down. These scores are very chase-able, it’s just poor batting.”
