Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 6 : Following his side's six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni lauded pacer Matheesha Pathirana, saying that the batters struggle to pick his bowling action and he would be a great asset for Sri Lanka.
Top knocks from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway guided Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Chennai on Saturday.
Dhoni also said that he would personally prefer if the pacer plays less red-ball cricket and plays all ICC tournaments.
"People who do not have a very clean action batters find it difficult to pick them. It is not the pace or variations, but the consistency. I would prefer him not to play red-ball cricket and play all the ICC tournaments, he would be a great asset for Sri Lanka. He was slightly lean last season and has added muscle this season," said Dhoni about his pacer in the post-match presentation.
"It was a very crucial game for a simple reason, if you see the points table there is a muddle in the middle. Last few games the results have not gone in our favour and so it is good to be on the winning side. I was doubtful with the decision at the toss, I wanted to bat first but the think tank thought about the rain, I was slightly outnumbered and so we went with the majority. If there is some kind of confusion then we sit and talk about it. I felt the wicket will slow down and that was the reason behind it, and even if rain comes then the majority of the game would have been done," added the skipper.
Pathirana is having a fine IPL 2023 season so far, having taken 10 wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 7.60, with the best bowling figures of 3/15.
Put to bat first by CSK, MI was off to a horrid start as their top order was laid to waste in just three overs. Cameron Green, who was opening in this match, lost his off-stump while attempting to pull. Tushar Deshpande got his first wicket. MI was at 13/1 in 1.5 overs.
MI kept on losing wickets as after the end of the powerplay, they were 34/3.
Nehal Wadhera was the only player who stood up for MI, he scored his maiden half-century off 46 balls. He scored 64 off 51 before getting out on Pathirana. He also had a half-century partnership with Suryakumar Yadav.
MI finished their innings at 139/8 in their 20 overs, with Piyush Chawla (2*) and Jofra Archer (3*).
Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for CSK, taking 3/15 in his four overs. Tushar Deshpande also took 2/26 in his four overs. Deepak Chahar also got 2/18 in his three overs while Ravindra Jadeja got one wicket.
CSK's innings got off to a brilliant start, with great knocks coming from Devon Conway (44 in 42 balls), Ruturaj Gaikwad (30 in 16 balls)
CSK finished off the run-chase successfully, finishing at 140/4 in 17.4 overs, with MS Dhoni (2*) and Shivam Dube (26*) unbeaten.
Piyush Chawla (2/25) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.
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