Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad, this was not the duo that thought would turn into their spin twins. With R Ashwin retiring and Ravindra Jadeja moving to Rajasthan Royals, it seemed CSK were moving away from their tried and tested template. At the auction, when they showed reluctance to pursue proven Indian spinners and bought Hosein on board, it raised eyebrows.
With Noor being their first-choice tweaker and Akeal being predominantly a Powerplay bowler, the question was how will they slot both? Fielding two overseas spinners isn’t a tactic most franchises prefer as it disrupts balance.
Yet, in the match against at Chepauk a week ago, saw encouraging signs when the duo spun them to victory in what was the first defence of a target under 200 this season.
Akeal, a left-arm orthodox, isn’t complex to read. He just has two variations – the seam-up delivery that comes in with the angle and the arm delivery. Beyond that, he relies on changing his trajectory and pace. In 212 innings, he has 101 wickets in the Powerplay at an economy rate of 7.15. Help from the pitch or not, the trajectory he operates always makes it challenging for batsmen to get under the ball. His exclusion for their match in may have been a factor in ’s eventual defeat.
Akeal Hosein 🤜🤛 Noor Ahmad
🎥 ’s spin twins breaking the game in style 💥
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)
Coming to Wankhede, all eyes were on how Chennai would use Akeal. The red-soil surface offers bounce. Favourable match-up or not, dew or no dew, Akeal was needed. They had 207 on board, but it still didn’t induce much confidence. A rollicking start, and this chase could have been over in no time.
But there were positive signs. Allah Ghazanfar had already shown the pitch had grip and turn. So when Akeal came on in the first over itself, it was going to be the make-or-break moment.
Off the second delivery, the only one which he fired in flat towards the legs, Quinton de Kock slogged him for a six. The others were on the off-stump channel and didn’t cause any damage. But it was his delivery to Danish Malewar that showcased Akeal’s prowess. The last ball of the over, which was the first that the right-hander faced, was slower than the previous ones. It landed on off-stump, inviting Malewar to push at it, enough to get the edge with Sanju Samson doing the rest.
His second wicket was even better. Mukesh Choudhary, taking the field after losing his mother a couple of nights ago, had already sent back De Kock, bringing Naman Dhir and together. Against a new batsman to bowl to, Akeal mixed up his pace before sending a tossed-up one again. Naman, like Sarfaraz Khan was schooled by Mitchell Santner earlier in the game, had already made up his mind to send the ball over mid-wicket. The stumps lay exposed and Akeal didn’t need any further invitation. Those two strikes and the maiden over broke ’s back.
Then came Noor to weave his magic. In the game against , it was Akeal, who had played the role of mentor on the field, guiding the Afghan on the right lengths to hit as the wrist-spinner rediscovered his mojo.
Akeal Hosein 🤝 Noor Ahmad
Combined figures 6⃣/4⃣0⃣ between them 🫡
How good were the spin twins tonight? ✍️
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Here, watching Akeal was enough. Noor had just seen Akeal return for his second spell and take out Tilak Varma. And when took guard, with the required run rate in excess of 14, Noor knew what to do.
He sent the first, on the off-stump channel, a bit too full for Pandya’s liking. The hoick – more like a hockey drag-flick resulted in a miscue to the fielder at short third man.
Then came the knockout blow. Sherfane Rutherford was the last and only hope for Mumbai The lone power-hitter capable of replicating the improbable heists that Keiron Pollard used to pull off.
Again, Noor didn’t flinch like he did against earlier this season. The first delivery, he ensured, was a good distance away from the left-hander’s swinging arc. The leg-spin, which MS Dhoni had advised him to stick to, was hit straight down the throat of sweeper cover. Rutherford sank, as did Mumbai to their biggest-ever defeat. Akeal and Noor walk away with combined figures of 8-1-40-6.
