MS Dhoni has blamed the batters after Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) four-wicket loss against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. With the loss, the Dhoni-led CSK are now eliminated from the playoff race.
Sam Curran’s 88 helped hosts CSK reach a competitive 190 all out, despite Punjab Kings’ Yuzvendra Chahal taking a hat-trick. Curran (88 off 47 balls, including 9 fours and 4 sixes) found good support from Dewald Brevis (32 off 26 balls, including 2 fours and 1 six) as CSK put a fighting total on the board.
“I think the batting – yes, it was the first time we put enough runs on the board. But was it a par score? I feel slightly short,” Dhoni said after the match.
Poll
Was CSK’s batting performance adequate for a competitive match?
“Yes, a bit demanding from the batters, but I feel we could’ve got slightly more. I feel we need to take our catches,” he said.
Dhoni showered praise on Curran and Brevis as they put on a 78-run fourth-wicket stand and turned up the heat on the PBKS bowling.
“The partnership between Brevis and Sam was excellent,” he said.
Who’s that IPL player?
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was wicketless until the penultimate over, was hit for a six by MS Dhoni (11), but the bowler had him caught at long-off on the second delivery.
On the fourth ball, Deepak Hooda (2) played one meekly towards backward point, while on the fifth, impact substitute Anshul Kamboj (0) was clean-bowled.
Noor Ahmad (0) tried to hit one away but ended up miscuing his shot, and Jansen came in from long-on to complete the hat-trick, which was the leg-spinner’s second in the IPL.
Dhoni mentioned that not being able to play the full quota of overs kind of hurt CSK.
“We didn’t play the last four deliveries, and in the second-to-last over, four batters got out. In close games, those seven deliveries mean a lot,” he said.
Dhoni had a special message for Sam Curran, and he called him a fighter.
“He’s a fighter. That’s something we all know. Whenever he turns up, he wants to contribute.
“Unfortunately, so far, whenever we tried to give him a chance, the wicket was on the slower side, and he found it slightly difficult.
“But today’s wicket was one of the best we’ve got at home in this tournament. That’s the reason I felt we needed another 15 runs. It’s the momentum in the middle order.”
Dhoni called Brevis an asset that CSK can bank on in the future.
“He’s also a very good fielder; he has power, and he can hit good balls for boundaries. And he brings good energy. Happy with the way he’s playing. He can be an asset going ahead.”
