It is not often that you see Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the bottom of the pile. With Week 2 of IPL 2020 about to come to an end, they have been languishing there, thanks to the poor outings in the initial stages and then the long break. That break should act as a release for a team not used to being at rock bottom, so CSK are likely to be in a more relaxed state of mind when they take on SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their next game at Dubai on Friday. SunRisers Hyderabad on their part are a little happier after they posted their first win in IPL 2020, beating Delhi Capitals quite comfortably. 

CSK are presently with two points from three matches, with a run-rate of -0.840, pitting them at rock bottom. They have played well in patches, with individual performances being of note. But the overall show has been disappointing so far. 

Of the batsmen, Faf du Plessis has been consistent, while Ambati Rayudu, who came up with a fine knock on the opening day of IPL 2020 against Mumbai Indians, is out injured. The rest have been patchy. 

The bowling isn’t much better. Sam Curran’s left-arm over seems to be the only consistent commodity while the rest have been good, bad or indifferent. 

As for SRH, they would be extremely relieved to beat Delhi Capitals, especially since they were at the bottom of the heap when the two sides met, while DC were right on top. 

SRH’s win saw the imports coming good. Skipper David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson, playing his first match, were all on point with the bat, while Rashid Khan did what he does best with the cricket ball – get wickets. 

The entire bowling contingent delivered, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar led from the front and all the others followed efficiently. 

Promoted

The key would be efficiency, for both sides. One or two exuberant performances can win you an odd match but for a side to be consistently on a win mode, it needs most players to give out optimised results. 

Both sides would be hoping for such consistency, since while IPL 2020 still has a long way to go, a couple of losses more will put both sides in a real tight corner.