(Cricket News) Chennai Super Kings suffered their third loss of the season, losing to the Lucknow Super Giants by 8 wickets. CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad agreed they were short on runs – by about 10-15, he said – and put it down to their middle-overs slowdown.
CSK’s scoring rate was decent in the powerplay, scoring 51 of the first 6. The major setback for them was the middle phase of the game. The Lucknow wicket was on the slower side and the CSK batters fell in the trap. They managed to score just 62 runs in the next 10 overs post the powerplay. CSK went without a boundary for 32 balls during the phase.
The spinners of LSG, Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya bowled for the most part of the middle overs and managed to dry out the run scoring by the Super Kings. They together bowled five out of the 10 overs during that phase and gave away just 29 runs, also taking wicket of a well set Rahane.
“I know we finished off really well – couldn’t have asked for more – but I think after the powerplay, we couldn’t just kick off from the start we got until the 14th or 15th over,” Gaikwad said. “We kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I think [we were] 10-15 runs short.”
MS Dhoni once again came to the Super Kings’ rescue, with a flurry of boundaries in the dying phases of the innings. MS ended with 28 of just 9 balls and took CSK to a competing total of 176 in their 20 overs.
Gaikwad felt that the pitch was “slightly difficult” to score on in the first innings, and that the presence of the Impact Player meant teams need to have “maybe 20 runs extra”. “Even on these kind of pitches – I felt it was a sluggish one to start off with, with dew coming later [and the pitch] getting better – I still feel 180-190 would have been a good score,” he said.
Gaikwad also admitted that the lack of wickets in the first 6 overs, also played a role in their loss and that his side needs to strike more in the initial phases of the innings. LSG’s openers Rahul and Quinton de Kock did not let them do that, putting on 134 in 15 overs. Overall this season, CSK have taken just seven wickets in the first six overs.
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