If you stopped following Sunrisers Hyderabad or Chennai Super Kings after they secured their playoffs berths, you will probably think nothing has changed. Sunrisers still top the table, CSK are right behind them, and they will face off in the first Qualifier on Tuesday. So it's still all about CSK's batting against Sunrisers' bowling, right? Not really.
The last stretch of their journeys have been fairly contrasting. At the start, CSK were seen as a deep batting unit with a spin-heavy attack, so they may have wanted to play on turning pitches in Pune, their adopted home. Instead, they had surfaces with pace and bounce. Now, at the end of the league phase, their top four wicket-takers are all pace bowlers.
Sunrisers, meanwhile, had the bowling arsenal to defend low totals and bowl oppositions out. However, in their last three matches, each of which they lost, they managed only two wickets against CSK, conceded more than 200 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and could not defend 172 at home against Kolkata Knight Riders. The tides have clearly turned.
Shardul Thakur leads CSK's wicket charts (14), but is now being used as first- or second-change because their top swing bowler Deepak Chahar is back from injury and Lungi Ngidi's wicket-taking ability has only improved with each match.
Their combined bowling show on Sunday night against Kings XI Punjab summed up their last few matches - banana outswing with precision from one end and raw pace and bounce from the other to strangle batsmen upfront. They also hardly concede runs; Ngidi's economy rate stands at a stingy 6.11 from five matches and Chahar's at 7.35 from 10. CSK's attack has been so disciplined that Chahar's no-ball on Sunday was their first such indiscretion this season.
"It's been nothing short of amazing," Ngidi told Star Sports of his first taste of the IPL. "Having come here initially, it was going to be a learning experience for me. I didn't expect to play as much as I have so it's been great to get out on the field, see how different players think in different situations.
"Originally getting here, I was a bit down on myself and went through a bit of trouble with my family (he went home early in the tournament after his father died), but the environment here has really uplifted me and the fan support has really made me enjoy my IPL here."
The turnaround has lent balance to CSK, with their pace battery outperforming Sunrisers' in recent matches despite dealing with several 30-plus players and a few niggles. Sunrisers lost Billy Stanlake to injury early in the tournament, but Sandeep Sharma filled that void pretty well. Their attack looked a little shaky without Bhuvneshwar Kumar's experience when he was injured, but they haven't recovered properly even after his return.
He has picked up only two wickets in five matches since returning to the XI, going wicketless three times and leaking at least 33 runs on four occasions. Against Delhi Daredevils, he was taken apart by Rishabh Pant (43 runs of 11 balls). When Sunrisers had to defend 179 against CSK, openers Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu treated Bhuvneshwar with disdain in his first two spells as he finished with figures of 4-0-38-0.
While all this has happened, opponents have found a way to not lose the plot against Rashid Khan. He has gone wicketless in three of his last four games and when he took 3 for 27 in the other, RCB targeted the remaining bowlers to amass 218. CSK decided to see him off while chasing 180, collecting 10 dots against him even as Rayudu scored a century when these sides last met.
There's also the added concern now over Siddarth Kaul. When the other Sunrisers bowlers would be carted for runs earlier, he would invariably deliver breakthroughs. Not anymore. Could it be fatigue? Rashid (56 overs) has bowled more than anyone else in the tournament - joint with Andrew Tye - and Kaul (55) is third. In nine matches, Bhuvneshwar has bowled only one over less than his maximum possible 36 overs.
The batting too has had its fair share of challenges. Sunrisers have not been able to find support for Kane Williamson in the middle order, relying almost completely on him for big scores, especially in David Warner's absence. A small positive for them is Shikhar Dhawan's form, but that also means the bulk of their scoring comes from the top order. If Ngidi and Chahar can make early breakthroughs as they did against Kings XI on Sunday night, Sunrisers will need some serious repair work from Manish Pandey and co.
To add to their woes, Sunrisers have dropped more catches than any other team until now, and CSK's conversion rate has been the best. Out of 77 attempts, Sunrisers have held on to only 72.7% of the chances whereas CSK's number stands at 82.7% out of 75 attempts. Even though Sunrisers have saved more runs in the field with a side younger than CSK's, Dhoni's team has shown better nerves when the ball has taken the aerial route.
Come Tuesday night, Sunrisers will have more kinks to straighten out than CSK. How they fared in their last league games is also reflective of their moods. The Sunrisers middle order managed only four fours and a six in all against KKR, and Bhuvneshwar and Rashid went wicketless.
CSK, on the other hand, played as if they were on the beach with their feet up. They dismantled the Kings XI top order before Dhoni infused some chaos while watching the fun from afar, not too different from what Heath Ledger's character The Joker did in The Dark Knight. Dhoni could very well use his dialogue too, in the presentation, with his trademark smile: "Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos."