IPL 2018: Sportzwiki’s Man of The Match – Shardul Thakur
Apr 22, 2018 at 2:10 PM
The Chennai Super Kings went on top of the table, all thanks to their massive 64-run win over the Rajasthan Royals.
Shane Watson did the damage with the bat while it was Shardul Thakur, who bowled his heart out to claim two wickets, keeping the pressure on the Royals’ batters throughout the game.
Watson hit six sixes and nine fours en route to his 106 off 57 balls. The Super Kings had to move out of their home ground in Chennai, but the story hasn’t been too different.
Ajinkya Rahane‘s men found it difficult to bat, as the required run rate kept climbing high. All-rounder Ben Stokes was expensive with the ball. Whereas, with the bat, he couldn’t play an explosive knock after getting a start.
Stokes was the top-scorer for the men in blue. His knock of 45 off 37 balls included three fours and a six, but it went in vain.
Post the game, Thakur, who took a stunner to dismiss Stuart Binny, spoke about the win and his variations.
Thakur stays level-headed
He said it is a good feeling when a plan gets executed, having practices hard. Chennai has been involved in three close encounters, and Thakur wasn’t panicking to get the job done.
“It takes years to get the slower-ball right, and when I got the rhythm, I just wanted to stay level-headed. The secret is we have played three high-scoring games. Those games were nail-biting, and so we were calm and composed tonight. I’ve practised hard, and felt good to execute those plans in the middle.” he said.
Spinner Karan Sharma, who replaced Harbhajan Singh, scalped two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to end the game. Sharma went for 13 runs in his one and a half overs but wrapped up the tail to secure a convincing win.