Good win for CSK! Especially Suresh Raina with that innings that set the platform along with Shane Watson. I have a feeling that Rayudu will have a middling season this time. In that case, Raina should step up and play the leader role in the top order with Watson.
In the end, it was taken too light by Dhoni and co, but then we know how Dhoni operates. In fact, Dhoni's style of taking it easy and timing the chase is rubbing off on players who play with him in CSK (Kedar, Jadeja, etc seem to display similar characteristics in recent times)
Loved the way Raina dealt with short balls today from two bowlers bowling at 140+. This bodes well for the rest of the campaign. Thakur shouldn't be in the playing XI however, if he's only gonna bowl two overs. He's tended to be expensive whenever he usually bowls, and I'd rather have an extra batsman like du Plessis in place of him, with Rayudu moving down to 4. The likes of Jadhav, Raina and/or Watson could have easily bowled the two overs needed instead. CSK should also try to get a good replacement for Ngidi as the lack of a quality death bowler will surely prove to be detrimental in defending totals.
Given the horror collapse that happened in yesterday's chase, I'm glad that Dhoni was there to take the team home. Bigger totals might need better solutions than nearly playing out Axar for a maiden though, which is a cause for concern given the lack of an established batsman after Dhoni.
Pant's keeping has definitely improved recently. He also seems to be much more confident and well settled in the DC setup compared to India with the gloves. Dk was struggling with Lockie the other day, in contrast to Pant being quite comfortable with Rabada. He could go a long way if backed properly.
Wonder if Delhi made the wrong decision in trading Shankar away for Dhawan. Whilst their overseas openers weren't great last year, I feel that they would have been much better this season, especially in the case of Munro who's got a good record in t20s. Instead, he's now a bench player who's unlikely to play unless they opt to go with three openers in the top 3. On the other hand, Shankar would have been a much better option at 6 compared to Paul who bats like a tail-ender.
