MS Dhoni About MI Loss: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has lamented the lack of big overs during CSK’s batting innings as the chief reason for CSK’s loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday evening at the Wankhede Stadium.
In the MI vs CSK battle, MI recorded their third consecutive win of the season as they continued their climb back in the tournament. They have four wins in eight games and now join the mid-table muddle.
MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. As MI had done against the SRH top-order at the same venue a few days ago, they tied down the CSK top-order and middle-order.
CSK were 48/1 at the end of the powerplay and then lost two wickets in the next two overs as MI applied more squeeze. CSK were 103/3 at the 14-over mark with Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja batting at strike rates of close to 100.
CSK then took two big overs from Trent Boult and Ashwani Kumar, but MI’s trump card, Jasprit Bumrah, pulled things back by conceding only 12 runs in his two death overs while taking two wickets. Even the 18th over, bowled by spinner Mitchell Santner, went for only six runs. This block of three excellent death overs, which yielded only 18 runs for CSK, ensured that their eventual total was under par for the dewy conditions at the Wankhede.
We never had a par score: MS Dhoni About MI Loss
In the post-match presentation, MS Dhoni was critical of CSK’s batting performance. Dhoni reckoned Jadeja and Dube could have started slogging earlier than they did, considering MI had Bumrah up their sleeve.
Dhoni said, “We were quite below par. Knew dew would come in the second half. Bumrah, one of the best death bowlers in the world, MI started their death bowling early; we should have started our slog early. We should have capitalised and got those runs.”
In the chase of 177, MI got off to a good start with Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma putting up 63 runs off 6.4 overs, Rohit playing out of the powerplay for the first time this season. Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav sealed off the chase comfortably in 15.4 overs. Rohit hit 76* off 45, and Suryakumar walloped 68* off 30, the return of Rohit to form being the biggest positive from this game for MI.
Dhoni assessed CSK’s bowling: “Odd ball was gripping. They played spin well. We never had a par score. If you give away too many in the first six. It wasn’t like it was coming on nicely.”
CSK, with only two wins in eight games, are on the brink of elimination from the playoff race. They need to win five of their remaining six games to remain in contention.
Dhoni added, “We need to see if we are playing the right form or cricket, trying to put right amount of runs. A few more catches will help, we are trying to plug in the holes. Take one game at a time. Look at the combinations for the next season, if we don’t qualify.”
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