Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway went hammer and tongs from the onset as he produced a batting masterclass, scoring 83 runs off 45 balls at a strike rate of over 180 to help four-time IPL winners set a daunting 227-run total against Royal Challengers Bangalore. After his batting exploits, Conway has issued an ominous warning to Chennai Super Kings opponents, saying the batting lineup of his team has been aiming for 200-plus strike rates on good batting surfaces to put up imposing totals.
"Tonight (Monday) was a really good surface to bat on, so for us to get those big totals it's about trying to create a strike rate of around 200-plus," said Conway at the post-match press conference.
The New Zealander said that though he was some way off the 200-plus strike rate, he was happy Rahane (37 runs, 185 strike rate), Dube (52, 192.59), Ambati Rayudu (14, 233.33) and Moeen Ali (19 not out, 211.11), had brilliant strike rates.
"I didn't manage to achieve that (200-plus rate) but some of the work done by the other players, like Ajinkya, Dube, Rayudu and Moeen Ali in the end, they all chipped in with really good strike rates and that's what got us to a very competitive total.
"That's probably the method on this kind of wicket where it's really good to bat," added Conway, who scored at a strike rate of 184.44.
The 31-year-old left-hand batter had a lot of appreciation for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for holding on to the two skiers behind the stumps to dismiss the two most dangerous batters Du Plessis and Maxwell.
The New Zealander said he was confident someone like Dhoni would never fluff those skiers -- one of the toughest catches to take in night games.
"Those (Faf and Maxwell) were very tough catches because it is not easy to catch balls that go straight up in the dark night. I was very lucky to have MS (Dhoni) with the gloves on because if there is any person you want to take those tough chances, he's probably your guy. it was good for us (to) break the momentum of the innings and ultimately helped us win the match," added Conway.
Conway indicated CSK players could have come under pressure while defending the big total, which probably led them to drop a couple of catches.
"No one tries to drop catches on purpose, these things happen. I don't know if there was pressure on the fielders or what it was. Thankfully, it wasn't costly for us but we've got to keep practicing under pressure, take those half opportunities. Thankfully, we bowled well and that helped repair (the damage from) those dropped catches.
"Before we went on to the field, MS said we are going to be put under pressure at times. The momentum that they (RCB) had was brilliant. Faf and Glenn put us under pressure but we always felt that by having 200-plus on the board, if we get a couple of wickets we could always bounce back.
(With PTI Inputs)