The art of the counter-punch: DC and CSK engage in tactical battle for the ages

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder scrapped for 11 enthralling rounds on Sunday, but the real heavyweight slugfest came in Qualifier 1 of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). Two behemoths of the competition, the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), traded blow for blow in an all-out battle that was as tactically charged as it was power-driven.

With experienced heads like Ricky Ponting and Stephen Fleming in the two teams' dugouts, unorthodox tactical warfare was inevitable. But even the coaches couldn't have anticipated just how many unexpected punches they had to not only defend against but also counter. Unsurprisingly, both teams held their nerve throughout the battle, churning out eye-catching moments one after the other.

As CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and gleefully elected to field, Rishabh Pant admitted that he would've preferred not to bat first. Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan were confronted with a fairly true surface, though, and had the opportunity to set the tone for the innings.

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CSK trusted powerplay tactics barely survive before Moeen Ali bowls telling spell

Josh Hazlewood scalped two wickets in the powerplay to put DC on the backfoot

CSK's powerplay tactics this season have been fairly predictable. MS Dhoni has often been reluctant to bowl Ravindra Jadeja or Moeen Ali and has relied on two of his swing bowlers to give him at least five of the six powerplay overs.

In the UAE leg of IPL 2021, Deepak Chahar has been unimpressive, having picked up only four wickets in seven games. As he struggled for purchase despite bowling to a favorable match-up in Prithvi Shaw, Dhoni needed Josh Hazlewood to give him three overs from the other end.

Hazlewood's modus operandi against Shaw was standard in the absence of any lateral movement. He attacked the short opener's body, eliciting more than one edge that ran away to the fine-leg boundary. As Shaw eventually converted the streaky shots into confident ones, Hazlewood produced a moment of magic to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan before tying up and sending back Shreyas Iyer.

Shardul Thakur's only over of the powerplay was expensive, and despite losing two wickets, DC ended up with the advantage at the end of the field restrictions. Things got really interesting then. Jadeja has been the man in overs 7-15 in IPL 2021, keeping things tight even against the left-handers and picking up the occasional wicket.

In a bid to counter him, DC - who had a thin batting lineup due to the inclusion of Tom Curran as a specialist sixth bowler - promoted Axar Patel. Axar slammed Jadeja for two sixes in a match-winning final-over effort against CSK last year and was tasked with keeping his counterpart from bowling four overs on the trot.

Although Jadeja conceded three fours in his spell, he kept things tight and even sent Shaw back in his third over. At the other end, Dhoni had to turn to someone who has been used sparingly in the UAE leg - off-spinner Moeen Ali. The Englishman bowled a telling spell, conceding only one six in his four overs and forcing Axar into a miscued pull.

From there, things were relatively straightforward for a master tactician like Dhoni. He eked out an over from Chahar, kept Moeen on from one end and shuffled his pacers like he has done throughout IPL 2021. The CSK skipper's trusted death bowler, Dwayne Bravo, didn't turn in his best display of the season, but the Men in Yellow did fairly well to restrict DC to 171.

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CSK's radicalization of the No. 3 spot continues to yield results even as Thakur experiment fails

Robin Uthappa smashed his first CSK fifty in his third game for the franchise

The big talking point ahead of Qualifier 1, as has been the case ahead of all CSK vs DC games in IPL 2021, was how the CSK batters would deal with the three-pronged pace threat of Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan.

But strangely, after the early wicket of Faf du Plessis, DC's pacers didn't really throw up any short balls. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had gotten out to the pull in each of his last two games, turned the strike over to Robin Uthappa, who took full toll of anything in the slot. The result was that CSK coasted through the powerplay, losing only one wicket and erasing 59 runs off the DC target.

Tom Curran's cutters and slower balls, DC's final avenue of non-spin attack, turned out to be the most effective on the night, barring the final over of course. Ravichandran Ashwin, who sent down only two overs, went for 19 runs - in stark contrast to Moeen, whose economy rate stood at a very respectable 6.75.

Axar Patel has often held the wood over attacking players of spin, but Gaikwad had the last laugh in the left-arm spinner's third over. The CSK opener caressed a four and a six to ensure that Axar didn't bowl out his quota, setting the stage for the middle order to use its flexibility.

Shardul Thakur, who has faced only five balls in IPL 2021 to date, came to the crease in a bid to take some pressure off CSK's middle-order batters against the pace barrage that was to follow. The move, an uncharacteristically radical one by CSK, didn't pay off, but Thakur didn't waste more than one ball.

Ambati Rayudu was soon run out, and CSK were left with a rebuild at a late stage of the innings. Then came the boldest move of the game as Dhoni promoted himself above the red-hot Jadeja. We all know what transpired as the 40-year-old smashed 18 runs off six balls to take CSK to their ninth IPL final.

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DC were outthought and not outfought

The master tactician was at his best in Dubai

Promoting Axar to No. 4. Playing Curran ahead of a specialist batter like Sam Billings. Using only two overs of Ashwin. Bowling the low-on-confidence Avesh Khan and Curran ahead of Kagiso Rabada in the final two overs. Letting Moeen settle into a four-over spell.

DC made many key tactical decisions in Qualifier 1 and could've done so many things differently. But at the end of the day, they were completely outthought by a superior team in CSK. The three-time champions made a few mistakes too, but they did the basics right. They trusted their players and plans to the hilt, and put themselves in a position to become IPL champions once again.

It's tough to blame DC and Rishabh Pant, who made some bold decisions that didn't go their way. Irrespective of the result, cricket and keen observers of the game were the real winners on Sunday.