Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya has hailed CSK skipper MS Dhoni for his performance in their match, where the two-time champions extended their momentum with a 8-run win in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) first had the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on the mat at 27/3 and again had the upper hand when they needed 25 off the last 12 balls. But the end result was an 8-run win for the CSK in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Chepauk Stadium here. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane made his displeasure known at the end of the game.
“As a batting unit we need to take the responsibility for this. We win as a team and we lose as a team. If we win the smaller moments in T20s we will do well. We have played well in the last three games and hopefully with some luck we’ll be able to turn it around,” he said after the match on Sunday.
In the match, MS Dhoni’s well-calculated half-century in challenging conditions turned out to be game-changer as Chennai Super Kings won their third match of the season with an eight-run defeat of Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. The pitch used in the previous match was a rank turner here but on Sunday it turned to be a different challenge for the batsmen since it was not conducive for stroke-play as the ball was stopping a bit.
Dhoni paced his innings beautifully, scoring unbeaten 75 off 46 balls to lead his side to a competitive 175 for five, seizing momentum from Royals bowlers who were off to an inspiring start. The Royals needed someone to play a Dhoni-like innings but none took that responsibility and they could manage 167 for 8, suffering their third defeat in as many matches
“When MS bats, it is very difficult for the bowlers. It was very hard for the bowlers to grip the ball after six overs, even the fast bowlers. But CSK bowled really well, they kept taking wickets,” he acknowledged.
The Royals skipper felt that RR lost the game in the last five overs.
“Very disappointed. We started off really well in the first ten overs, but what cost us were the last five overs,” he said.
Agencies
