Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway has sounded an ominous warning to his team’s opponents, saying his team has been aiming for 200-plus strike rates on good batting surfaces to post commanding totals that increase their chances of winning games.
Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway has sounded an ominous warning to his team’s opponents, saying his team has been aiming for 200-plus strike rates on good batting surfaces to post commanding totals that increase their chances of winning games.
Monday was one such day when the four-time champions scored a massive 226 for 6 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Despite the onslaught from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis (62 off 33 balls) and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36 balls), CSK still managed to win by eight runs.
Conway (83), Ajinkya Rahane, and Shivam Dube played a key role with the bat, scoring at a strike rate of more than 180 in helping CSK reach the big total.
“Tonight (Monday) was a really good surface to bat on, so for us to get those big totals it’s about trying to create a strike rate of around 200-plus,”
said Conway at the post-match press conference.
The New Zealander expressed his happiness that Rahane (37 runs, 185 strike rate), Dube (52, 192.59), Ambati Rayudu (14, 233.33), and Moeen Ali (19 not out, 211.11) had outstanding strike rates although he was still far from the 200-plus strike rate.
“I didn’t manage to achieve that (200-plus rate) but some of the work done by the other players, like Ajinkya, Dube, Rayudu, and Moeen Ali in the end, they all chipped in with really good strike rates and that’s what got us to a very competitive total.
“That’s probably the method on this kind of wicket where it’s really good to bat,”
added Conway, who scored at a strike rate of 184.44.
The left-hand batter had a lot of appreciation for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for keeping the two skiers behind the stumps to dismiss the two most dangerous batters Du Plessis and Maxwell.
One of the toughest catches to take in night games, the New Zealander said he was confident someone like Dhoni would never duff those skiers.
“Those (Faf and Maxwell) were very tough catches because it is not easy to catch balls that go straight up in the night. I was very lucky to have MS (Dhoni) with the gloves on because if there is any person you want to take those tough chances with, he’s probably your guy. It was good for us (to) break the momentum of the innings and ultimately helped us win the match,”
added Conway.
Conway indicated CSK players could have come under pressure while defending the big total, which probably led them to drop a couple of catches.
“No one tries to drop catches on purpose, these things happen. I don’t know if there was pressure on the fielders or what it was. Thankfully, it wasn’t costly for us but we’ve got to keep practicing under pressure and take those half opportunities. Thankfully, we bowled well and that helped repair (the damage from) those dropped catches.
“Before we went on to the field, MS said we are going to be put under pressure at times. The momentum that they (RCB) had was brilliant. Faf and Glenn put us under pressure but we always felt that by having 200-plus on the board, if we get a couple of wickets we could always bounce back.
“So, for our bowlers it was clear — be patient and when the opportunity comes you just take them with both hands.”
‘Spider cam an issue’
Conway stated that the shadow cast by the floating spider cam made it difficult for players to carry out their tasks without incident. He said that the game shouldn’t be affected by technology at any stage.
“It (interference) happened a couple of times where the ball had got very close to the spider cam as well as the wires that can put a fielder off. I think Faf stepped away a couple of times because the shadows of the spider cam was in his way. It’s obviously a little bit of testing for guys.
“It’s nice to have that technology to show different angles of the game but there comes a point where (it) can’t get too involved and interfere with the game. MS (Dhoni) was probably trying to speak to the umpires, saying ‘don’t get too close to the action and try to avoid too much (of what’s) going on,”
said Conway.