Mitchell Marsh seals a crucial match along with his friend David Warner, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians compete to show who’s worse, cracks appear in MS Dhoni’s fortress and franchises begin to let go the preference for chasing.
Here is our latest weekly look at the Indian Premier League 2022.
The Marsh-Warner bonding
Needing to make a statement to remain in contention for the playoffs, Delhi Capitals crushed Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets at DY Patil Stadium last Wednesday.
The highlight was a 144-run match-winning second-wicket stand between compatriots and friends Mitchell Marsh and David Warner.
It was a night of struggles for Warner, who could have been dismissed thrice in one Yuzvendra Chahal over alone, but Marsh made light of a slow, sticky surface as he hammered seven sixes in his 89 off 62.
He could not be around long enough to be at the other end when his buddy hit the winning runs, but after the match, Marsh spoke about his bonding with the veteran Australian opener.
“In the last 18 months I have just loved batting with Davey,” Marsh said.
“We have had a lot of great partnerships with him opening and me batting at No 3 and this was a memorable one for Delhi Capitals.
"He is someone who I have looked up to for a long time now. I feel very lucky that over the last 18 months, I have been able to bat with him a lot, and form a great partnership with him while batting and also a great friendship.
“The friendship side of things really comes out in the middle. It has been a lot of fun. His experience, his calmness… we can all see how much he loves winning, now playing for Delhi it feels like he has come back to where it all began for him. He has been super consistent this year.”
The wooden-spoon battle
It is pouring misfortune for Chennai Super Kings at the moment.
In a match they needed to win to keep their mathematical playoff hopes alive, a power failure at Wankhede Stadium meant there was no DRS until the fourth over of their innings against Mumbai Indians.
And sure enough, Devon Conway got a shocker first ball and had no choice but to trudge off. CSK then proceeded to write their own epitaph for this season.
On a pitch with live grass, there was bound to be some seam and zip with the new ball, in addition to the customary Wankhede bounce.
And it is fair to state that the CSK batters were shockingly incompetent, displaying poor defence and poorer shot selection to collapse to 39 for 6, and a dismal 97 all out, their second-lowest total ever in the IPL.
A helpless MS Dhoni watched the destruction from the other end as the formidable CSK citadel crumbled on and off the field.
However, in what should have been a straightforward chase despite the lively surface, MI stumbled to 33 for 4, once again showing why they were deserving of the last spot in the table.
It all became a bit tragicomic towards the end, with MI collecting their runs in inside and outside edges and CSK falling apart in the field with overthrows and missed chances.
It was a forgettable night of misery for the two champion sides and their vast army of loyal fans.
Fort Chennai falls
First CSK stripped Ravindra Jadeja of what was already a largely ceremonial captaincy crown.
Then he was left out for a game, ostensibly due to an injury.
Then he was ruled out of the tournament altogether, again ostensibly due to injury.
Then the unfollowing happened between him and his franchise on their social-media handles.
Then after the latest disaster against MI, Ambati Rayudu announced another of his retirements on Twitter and shortly deleted the announcement.
The CSK CEO publicly stated that there was no retirement happening.
Another stalwart Suresh Raina had had a bitter fallout a couple of seasons ago and was ignored by CSK at this year’s auction.
A side that had been a model for the T20 franchise universe is finally showing cracks, and they are threatening to weaken its very foundation.
Clearly, all is not well on the once-watertight ship run with an iron grip by Dhoni, with the unshakeable support of owner N Srinivasan and aided by a shrewd, trusted coach in Stephen Fleming.
Dhoni remains perhaps as fit as ever, and has more than proven this season that he’s still not exactly a liability with the bat.
His cricket mind continues to remain razor-sharp.
But at what point does the franchise decide it will have to at least begin stepping out his shadow? There is no other route to the future.
Catching up with conditions
Barring a grand total of two matches, captains had been choosing to field first by default after winning the toss during the months of March and April.
That made it 42 out of 44 matches where chasing was the preferred method.
The actual results, however, have been far less skewed.
In April, in fact, more games were won by the side that batted first - 19 - compared to 18 in favour of the chasing team.
In May, the conditions have become even more in favour of the teams setting a target with the tired pitches slowing down and making chases harder.
In the first half of May, only six games went to the chasing team, as against 13 won by teams that batted first.
Still, franchises are a bit behind the curve, but have at least begun to catch up - choosing to field first remains the chosen way to go, with 11 sides opting for that in May compared to eight electing to bat first.
A major factor that plays on teams’ minds is the possibility of dew, although, with May’s warmer nights and cloudy days, the possibility has shrunk.
Still, on the rare night on which it makes an appearance, it can make games very chase-friendly.
