IPL 2018, CSK vs KKR: 5 Talking Points

The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was at its vociferous best on Tuesday as Chennai Super Kings played their first game at the Chepauk after 1065 days. They couldn't have asked for a better day out as they got their money worth with a thrilling contest that went all the way down to the wire.

Kolkata Knight Riders looked set to break the hearts of the home crowd for much of the contest, especially after putting on 202 runs on the board thanks to a brutal 36-ball 88 from Andre Russell but a brilliant run-chase from CSK saw the hosts make it two wins out of two in IPL 2018.

Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu got CSK off to a brilliant start in their run-chase but it was Sam Billings' knock of 56 off just 23 balls that saw the hosts emerge victorious in a match that rained sixes galore.

Here are the 5 major talking points from today's' match.

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#5 MS Dhoni's surprising tactics

MS Dhoni is undoubtedly one of the greatest captains in limited-overs cricket but today's match against KKR saw the former Indian skipper make a few wrong calls that arguably forced the match to slip away from CSK's grasps.

It started out well for Chennai as Dhoni's ploy to use the spinners in the powerplay overs saw the dangerous KKR opening pair of Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn fall without causing major damage. The former fell to Harbhajan Singh while the Australian was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja.

KKR were intent on going after the bowling and the ploy played into CSK's hands as the visitors were reduced to 89/5 at the half-way mark.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell steadied the ship for KKR before the latter got stuck into the CSK bowlers but what was surprising was that Dhoni didn't use his spinners more despite the promise shown by the trio of Harbhajan, Jadeja and Imran Tahir.

While the South African leg-spinner completed his quota conceding just 26 runs, the Indian duo conceded just 30 runs from 4 overs picking up two wickets. It's no secret that Russell is not comfortable with the spinners and Dhoni should have put his experienced spin duo to much better use on the day.

Dhoni's dependency on the fast bowlers was made to look worse as they kept bowling full-length deliveries at Russell when short-pitched stuff should have been the way to go as RCB showed in their match against KKR on Sunday.

Dhoni also struggled with the bat, scoring 25 off 28 balls and surely has his teammates to thank for saving the day.

#4 The opening partnership for CSK

Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu's opening stand yielded 75 runs off just 5.5 overs

While there is no doubt that Sam Billings will hog the headlines following his match-winning effort against KKR on his CSK debut, the role played by Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu in the hosts' victory cannot be undermined.

Chasing a daunting target of 203, it was essential that CSK got off to a good start and that's exactly what Watson and Rayudu did with a brilliant stand of 75 for the first wicket.

The partnership saw some very good shots being played and while Watson's knock was more about power, Rayudu's innings was laced with some elegant hitting that was very pleasing to the eye.

Watson scored 42 off 19 balls including 3 sixes while Rayudu made 39 off 26 balls with the opening partnership contributing 75 runs for CSK off just 5.5 overs.

#3 Suresh Raina's brilliance on the field

Raina's direct hit helped end Robin Uthappa's stay at the crease

Suresh Raina's brilliant run-out to dismiss an in-form Robin Uthappa turned out to be a turning point in the match as the 32-year-old was looking in terrific touch with the bat as Ravindra Jadeja found out with those two towering sixes off his bowling.

Kolkata had just lost Nitish Rana and they would have ideally wanted their two most experienced batsman - Uthappa and skipper Dinesh Karthik - to settle down and build a good partnership.

However, the stand lasted just two balls as a miscommunication between the two batsmen saw Uthappa fall short of his crease after Raina dived to his left to stop the ball after a drive from Uthappa and hit the stumps at the non-striker's end with a direct hit.

Uthappa's dismissal proved crucial at the juncture as it slowed down the KKR innings and one can only wonder what damage he would have caused to CSK alongside the carnage dished out by Russell.

Raina's direct hit proved crucial in the final analysis of a match that right down to the wire and it shows just how important an aspect fielding is in T20 cricket. The CSK veteran had also held on the crucial catch of Sunil Narine to give CSK their first wicket of the day.

#2 Andre Russell's brutal hitting

Russell hit 11 sixes during his unbeaten knock of 88 off 36 balls

It rained sixes at the Chepauk today and no one did it better than Andre Russell with the big-hitting West Indian all-rounder scripting an unbeaten 36-ball 88 that featured as many as 11 sixes.

KKR badly missed Russell's brute power in the 2017 edition of the IPL which the Jamaican missed out on following a one-year ban from the sport. This was due to his violation of the whereabouts clause under anti-doping rules by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

One of the biggest hitters of the ball in modern-day cricket, Russell proved just how important he is to KKR's chances of a third IPL title as he destroyed the CSK bowling line-up with his power hitting.

MS Dhoni might have got it wrong with his dependency on the faster bowlers while Thakur and Bravo also failed with their execution bowling full-length deliveries. But the ball still needed to be dispatched and Russell didn't hold back one bit.

With KKR having lost four wickets for 38 runs during the middle overs, Russell started out slowly but there was no stopping him once he got into his groove.

Russell has produced many memorable knocks in the IPL over the years and today's innings surely rank as one among the best of his career.

#1 Sam Billings wins it for CSK

Billings' knock turned the match in CSK's favour

While CSK started their run-chase on a bright note with Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu getting their team off to a flyer with a 75-run stand for the first wicket in the powerplay overs, the hosts lost their way after losing both openers in quick succession along with the dangerous Suresh Raina.

Skipper MS Dhoni struggled against spin big time and could make only 25 off 28 balls and the match looked well and truly out of CSK's grip before Sam Billings turned it around with his superb knock.

The hard-hitting Englishman was right in the groove as he smashed 56 runs off just 23 balls, including 5 sixes. Though he couldn't lead his side to victory after being dismissed in the penultimate over of the match, his innings surely made things a lot easier for Jadeja and Bravo in the final over.

Interestingly, it was not the first time Billings had a field day against KKR as he had smashed 54 off 34 balls on his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils in 2016. Two years later, on his CSK debut, the 26-year-old once again led his team to victory with a match-winning knock.