Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 2 : After a defeat against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at their home ground MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad felt his side was "50-60 runs short" during the match and highlighted that pitch was not that great but improved in the second half. Punjab Kings with an all-rounded performance, clinched a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on Wednesday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
After Lucknow Super Giants breached Chepauk, CSK's fortress was breached for the second time in the ongoing season as CSK bowlers struggled to find their rhythm with dew majorly hindering them throughout the night. "Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn't great when we batted, but it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short," Gaikwad said in a post-match presentation. Talking about the toss, "I've practised the tosses (during the practice sessions), it's not going well in the match, not sure what to do. To be truthful, I'm under pressure when I go to the middle (for the toss)."
The five-time champions registered a 78-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday. "We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions (win by 78 runs against SRH). I think the last two games, the conditions and pitch was better, it allowed us to fight hard and get to 200+, today, it wasn't good enough to get to even 180," Gaikwad added. On losing Deepak Chahar in the very first over, the CSK captain said that there are different phases when the team get a wicket and suddenly there are only 2 bowlers who can get a wicket.
Chahar got injured after bowling just two deliveries in the opening over of the second innings. "It's a real problem (on the player missing due to injuries and Chahal walking away in the first over), there are phases where you want wickets, but you have only two bowlers, the dew took the spinners out of the equation. It was tough, but there were four games left and we will try and come back to winning ways," he added. The vibrant yellow wave in the stands of Chepauk were reduced to silence after PBKS effortlessly chased down 163 with more than two overs to spare.
Sam Curran's decision to put CSK to bat turned out to be the correct decision as dew factor kicked in to become a hindrance for CSK bowlers in the second half of the match. Ruturaj Gaikwad led from the front and scored 62 off 48 deliveries and MS Dhoni provided the finishing touches at the death to power CSK to an unlikely 162/7. In reply, PBKS batters hardly broke sweat while chasing 163. Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw forged a 64-run stand to completely shifted the momentum in their favor. Curran and Shashank Singh applied the finishing touches to seal a 7-wicket win for PBKS.
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