To say that CSK were stuck in the middle of their innings would be an understatement. After Ajinkya Rahane ended the powerplay with three consecutive fours off Sam Curran, the hosts went 55 deliveries without a boundary - the longest run of the season, beating Gujarat Titan's 38 against Delhi Capitals.
Credit must go to the twin spin threats of Brar and Rahul. The left-arm spinner and leg-spinner combined for seven overs from the sixth over to put the hosts on the back foot. They picked up three wickets to kill any momentum CSK had after their highest opening stand of the campaign (64). Two of them - Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja - were left-handers as CSK tried to frontload their batting to counter the turn of the two spinners. Match-ups be damned, it simply did not work.
Brar bowled his four overs - 2 for 17 - on the bounce; wicket to wicket, giving the odd chance to turn, but largely giving the batsmen nothing to work with. Just when it looked like he was going to be the star of the double act, Rahul returned in the 19th over and went for just three (more o