After sealing a nervy chase of 204 at Chepauk, Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad revealed that Sanju Samson spoke to the team once Lucknow Super Giants – Josh Inglis in particular – had raced to a big start. “After the first timeout, Sanju just came in and said, ‘If we have it in us, we have to make a comeback here, and try to restrict them as low as possible.'”

LSG had scored 91 for 1 in the powerplay, with Inglis running away to a 17-ball fifty. “I think he played some amazing shots, which we actually didn’t have any answer to and you can’t quite plan for it, or you can’t quite set the field for it. I think the way they were playing, it looked like [they would get] 240 or 250. But to keep it down to 200-odd, it was a great effort.”

CSK’s turnaround was down to Jamie Overton, who had Inglis caught behind and Rishabh Pant chopping onto his stumps in the tenth over. Inglis was dismissed for a 33-ball 85, and LSG slowed down thereafter. Overton finished with 3 for 36.

“I think it was just doing what I’ve been doing well,” Overton said when asked about his double-wicket over. “Just keeping top of the stumps and trying to make them hit like good balls off the top of the stumps. Nice to get a sort of a strangle from a leg-side one, and then a nice one to get Rishabh out… To get Josh out at that point was crucial.”

“I think it was just about getting your bowlers right,” Gaikwad said of introducing Overton to the attack. “How you can attack from one end, how you can be defensive from one end, so we thought let’s get our best bowlers for the next three or four overs and see how it goes after that.

“Noor [Ahmad] and Jamie bowled really well. They just pulled it back really well and after that we knew that once the ball gets older, it’s going to be tough for the new batter to come in and play shots.”

CSK had an even bigger powerplay in their chase, scoring 97 for 1 in their first six overs. This was mainly down to Urvil Patel’s rollicking 13-ball fifty. But after Urvil fell, new batters struggled to keep up with the required rate. They entered the final three overs needing 30 runs. They got over the line thanks to a few big hits from Prashant Veer, then back-to-back sixes from Shivam Dube in the final over.

“Chasing 200, when you start the innings, you know it will always go to the 18th on the 19th or the 20th over,” Gaikwad said. “So, yes, we started off really well in the powerplay, but it was a bit tacky for a new batter to just go in and play the shots.”

CSK are now in fifth place with 12 points after 11 games. “It’s still three games to go. But I think it is just about keeping it simple,” Gaikwad said. “Keeping it simple as long as possible. I know it’s easy to say at times, when you are under pressure or under the pump. But that’s a mantra and we are going to stick to it.”