Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 29 : Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad gave a special mention to star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and labelled his performance with the ball as a "match-turning spell" following CSK's 78-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing Indian Premier League on Sunday.
In front of a sellout crowd at Chepauk, CSK exercised control in all facets of the game and put SRH's back against the wall. As they sealed a comfortable win over the high-flying SRH side, the experienced quick Tushar Deshpande's influential spell played a crucial role in it.
He scalped four, with two of them coming in his first over of the night. He ended the night with 4/27 in his three-over spell.
While Deshpande starred with the ball, Gaikwad put emphasis on Jadeja's spell and stated that his continuation with the ball was "match-turning" because of the wet conditions.
"He's bowling really well (Deshpande). His hard work is paying off. Special mention to Jaddu as well. In these wet conditions to go for 22 runs, that was the match-turning spell," Gaikwad said in the post-match presentation.
The experienced spinner produced an economical four-over spell in which he gave away 22 runs and picked a crucial wicket of Nitish Reddy.
CSK were put to bat after SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss. Gaikwad who fell two runs shy of his second ton in the ongoing season reflected on the missed opportunity and hailed his team's overall performance.
"Feeling pretty good. Tough to play in such wet conditions, and to be able to win by 70-odd runs is a clinical performance. Was blessing in disguise at toss. Wasn't thinking about hundred. Wanted to make sure we get to 220-odd. Was disappointed that I missed 4-5 hits at the back end. During innings break I felt it could make a difference and I was upset. But thankfully it was enough. Last game we made some errors. Some loose balls here and there," Gaikwad said.
"Today we were outstanding in the field. Stuck to the plans and knew what the conditions were. With the impact player rule, you always want the extra 20 runs. Never know what par score is. That was one area - not getting wickets in powerplay. That's the only way it can put the opposition in the back foot," Gaikwad added.
Recapping the match, after SRH put CSK to bat, Gaikwad (98) and Daryl Mitchell's (52) heroic, combined with Shivam Dube's (39*) cameo powered CSK to 212/3.
In reply, SRH struggled to string partnerships and bundled out on 134.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
