Chennai: After suffering a loss against Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni said the match did not really go their way, especially the batting.
"It didn't really go our way. Especially the batting. Especially when you know home conditions. You have to assess very quickly how the wicket is playing. That's the bonus of playing at home, you've already played six games or seven games, so you know how the wicket has played, whether it is a bit tacky, whether it is coming on or not coming on," Dhoni said at the post-match ceremony.
"What is a good score that we should put on the board. Those are the things I felt we didn't do well in this game because of which we were not able to put something that would have been good to defend. I think the batting needs to get slightly better," he added.
Chennai's top-order once again failed to give the team a good start as they lost opening three batsmen for just 32 runs on the board.
The skipper Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu ensured that the team posts 132 runs on the board, but Mumbai had no problems in chasing down the target and they easily secured a victory by six wickets, owing to Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten knock of 71 runs.
Both the senior batsmen Suresh Raina and Shane Watson got out after playing loose shots. The pitch was slow, so the choice of shots by the senior batsmen raised a few questions. Dhoni defended his misfiring batsmen but expressed disappointment on the choice of shots.
"Yes, they're the best that we've got. On and off, they've done well. If you look at them when they bat, they've done well, But on and off, in some game, they've pulled out a shot that's really not on in that particular game or in that situation or in that condition. So, those are things that you need to assess," Dhoni said.
"Especially, when you have experienced players in the side, that's what you bank upon them. You're not banking on them for extraordinary fielding. It's just that they have to use their experience slightly more. Hopefully, we'll crack the code," he added.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals take on each other in the eliminator today and the winner of this match will take on Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 10 at Visakhapatnam.
