Chennai Super Kings rocks

It may not be a comprehensive victory for Chennai Super Kings, as I have predicted. But I am not complaining. Chennai Super Kings had the upper hand for most of the match(36 overs), until some lusty blows from AM Nayar and Harbhajan Singh tried to steer the match away from the home side. Anyway, a fine victory that would strengthen our position in the IPL league table.

Positives

• Batting with a purpose: I loved the way the innings was constructed around a single player who tries to stay till the end. It shows that each player understands his role in the batting order and plays accordingly.
• Gony: As predicted, Manpreet Gony proves that his pace and bounce could trouble any batsman.
• Cricket = Fun: Yesterday's match clearly showed that all the players are enjoying the game... which is good for the team as a whole.

Negatives

• Lack of options for Dhoni. Since there are only five bowlers in the playing XI, Dhoni has to bowl all of them, no matter how bad the bowler is on that day.
• Parthiiv Patel, the opener: Parthiv Patel failed once again as a opener. I prefer the slot to be given to Vidyut(Opener for Tamil Nadu who entered first class cricket as a bowler) since he could also give more bowling options for Dhoni. Parthiv Patel can be brought into the team once the trio - Hayden, Hussey & Oram leaves.
• Dew: Dew + Humidity in Chennai made the game a tough one for the players, especially for the bowlers. (Update: Ottayan in his blog clarifies that it is not dew but surface condensation arising because of the high humidity inside the stadium.)

But the thing that brought most cheer to me was the fact the Chennai crowd was behind the Super Kings. I believe the day when the whole crowd would be sprouting yellow (in support of the home team) is not far away.