Chennai Super Kings returned to Chepauk with a bang as they defeated the Lucknow Super Giants to register their first win of the Indian Premier League. It was another excellent night for the batters as over 400 runs were scored in two innings.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway had set the tone for the hosts to score big. Later cameos from Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni meant that they posted 217/7. While bowling they were under the pump when Kyle Mayers went hell for leather with his blazing fifty. CSK came back in the game when Moeen Ali picked up a couple of quickly. Despite Nicholas Pooran’s best efforts, the hosts were able to defend the total.
However Dhoni was not completely happy as he felt that there were too many errors from the fast bowlers especially in terms of not conceding extras. They were wayward in their lengths and line and conceded 16 runs in wides and no-balls, something that irked the CSK captain.
The veteran skipper warned the pacers to cut down on the extras or else they will be forced to play under a new captain. He even feels that the pace bowling lineup could improve overall as it has clearly been their weak point.
“Fast bowling we need to slightly improve. Need to bowl according to the conditions. What is important is to keep an eye as to what the opposition bowlers are doing. One more thing is they’ll have to bowl no no-balls or extra wides. Need to cut them out otherwise they’ll be playing under a new captain. It will be my second warning and then I’ll be off,” Dhoni stated during the post match press conference.
CSK also conced six runs in extras in the first match against Gujarat Titans which they lost in Ahmedabad. So Dhoni’s frustration was completely visible.
While people expected a low and slow wicket in Chennai, many were surprised to see so many runs being scored. Even Dhoni was surprised to see the wicket behave like this. However, he believes it was the perfect first game that one could ask for. He has not ruled out the chance of seeing such wickets in Chepauk later in the tournament.
“All of us were thinking how the wicket would be,” he continued. “It was the perfect first game that could happen. I thought it would be much slower. But it was a wicket where you could score runs. I was quite surprised with the wicket. But we’ll have to see if we can produce a wicket like this game after game,” Dhoni concluded.
CSk will next travel to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to faced the record champions, Mumbai Indians on April 8.
