Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad feels they were probably 50-60 runs short of a par score against Punjab Kings after their seven-wicket loss at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Wednesday. After Sam Curran decided to put the hosts into bat, CSK could only manage 162-7 on the board.
The home team got off to a decent start, with Ajinkya Rahane and Ruturaj Gaikwad adding 55 runs in the Powerplay overs. However, after the fielding restrictions were lifted, CSK failed to find boundaries as Harpreet Brar (2-17) and Rahul Chahar (2-16) kept them at bay.
The pitch was difficult to bat on and Rahane, in-form Shivam Dube, and Ravindra Jadeja were all dismissed cheaply after the first six overs. Impact substitute Sameer Rizvi and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 37 runs but the duo went through a lull period, failing to find the fence as CSK added 47-3 from overs 7 to 15.
Gaikwad top-scored with 62 runs but CSK failed to find any impetus in their innings. On the other hand, the pitch became better for batting in the second innings and PBKS were able to get over the line after Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw scored 46 and 43 runs respectively. Shashank Singh and PBKS captain Sam Curran added the finishing touches as they scored unbeaten knocks of 25 and 26 respectively.
Ruturaj Gaikwad said in the post-match presentation, “Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn’t great when we batted, it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short. I’ve practiced 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). We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions (win by 78 runs against SRH).”
He added, “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. 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’re four games left and we will try and come back to winning ways.”
Chennai Super Kings will once again take on Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday.
