Following the six-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) MS Dhoni said that the presence of dew made the difference in the match and there was an advantage to spinners in the first innings that prevented his side from posting a big score. Crucial fifties from Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana kept Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) playoffs hope alive as they registered a 6 wickets victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
“One of those days when you win the toss and bat first and the moment the first ball was bowled in the second innings, you realise it is a 180 wicket. Batting first I do not think we could have got anywhere close to 180. I think the dew made a big difference. If you compare the first innings to the second innings, there was a lot more purchase for the spinners in the first innings and that’s what really got to us,” said Dhoni after the match.
“(Cannot blame anyone for the loss) Yes, I think so. Whenever there is no certainty about dew that is when the decision (at the toss) becomes slightly tricky. And as I said, you win the toss and you bowl first and you realize there is no dew in the second innings, chasing 150 against their spinners could have been tough too. So we cannot really blame any batter or bowler for this loss. They tried their best, but the conditions had a big impact on the game,” concluded the skipper.
CSK opted to bat first and were restricted to 144/ in their 20 overs. Solid knocks came from Shivam Dube (48* in 34 balls), Devon Conway (30 in 28 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (20). There was a 68-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Dube and Jadeja.
Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 2/15 in his four overs. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/36) also got a couple of wickets. Vaibhav Arora and Shardul Thakur got a wicket each.
In the chase of 145, KKR at one stage was at 33/3. Then a 99-run stand between skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh brought KKR back into the game. Nitish slammed an unbeaten 57 in 44 balls, consisting of six fours and a six while Rinku scored 54 off 43 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes. KKR chased down the total in 18.3 overs with six wickets in hand.
Deepak Chahar (3/27) was the pick of the bowlers for CSK and did initial damage to KKR’s top order.
CSK is in the second position with seven wins, five losses and one no result. They have a total of 15 points. KKR is at seventh with six wins, seven losses and 12 points in total.
Rinku was given the ‘Player of the Match’ for his fifty.
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