Simarjeet had an excellent outing, removing RR's top 3. ©BCCI/IPL
Chennai Super Kings found themselves in a sticky spot on Sunday (May 12) that was a function of other factors in addition to the 73% humidity. Qualification scenarios for CSK at this stage of the season typically have easy-to-handle narratives, but this one had taken a life of its own - featuring drama and mystery, shredded hamstrings and nerves and from a position of sure-footed security at the start of the week, they were made to get their sea legs going on the return to the east coast for their final home game of the league phase.
As it is, T20 is a format for crunched chaos. CSK now had to play two of them with just a 40-hour gap in between, a significant portion of which was spent travelling from Ahmedabad, where they were handed a chastening experience, to Chennai, where Rajasthan Royals had been camping, acclimatising and practising for two days. In a cruel twist of fate, Ruturaj Gaikwad lost his 11th toss in 13 games and his players, who had paused their warm-up drills awaiting their fate with the coin, were told they had to
