On Friday, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) faced off in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, with a spot in the tournament final at stake.
Put in to bat first, SRH lost Abhishek Sharma in the first over but had a successful Powerplay, with 57 runs. However, after losing a couple of quick wickets through the middle overs, they ended up with 175/9, a score seemingly 10-15 runs below par.
However, RR's chase stalled as opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore could not get going at all, scoring 10 off 16 balls. Thereafter, left-arm spinners Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed spun a web, taking 5/47 between them to restrict RR to just 139/7, sealing a 36-run victory.
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Should the team winning the toss bowl or bat first in the IPL 2024 final?
SRH will now play KKR in the summit clash on Sunday, at the same venue in Chennai. When these two met in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad, it was a one-sided clash as KKR chased 160 in just 13.4 overs. But when it comes to Sunday's toss in Chennai, should the sides look to bat or field first?
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In a humid city like Chennai, teams often look to chase as there is the possibility of dew settling in during the second innings, making bowling difficult then. This was the thinking of Sanju Samson and RR last night, but the lack of dew on the night meant any moisture on the pitch from the first innings had evaporated, and it began to grip and turn, assisting the SRH spinners who eventually set up the win.
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In addition, IPL matches in Chennai have often gone in favour of the team batting first. 44 wins versus 30 batting second was the record ahead of this season. However, this year it has been 5-3 in favour of chasing teams.
| Year | Matches | Wins batting first | Wins chasing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 2010 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 2011 | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| 2012 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| 2013 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 2015 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| 2021 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| 2023 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
The trend this year for teams winning the toss has also been to chase; of the eight tosses, only two winners have chosen to bat first -- RCB and RR. Both teams went on to lose against CSK. With dew also making in appearance in multiple matches this year, it does seem that chasing would remain the better option, in spite of Friday's result.