22 April,2019 12:52 PM IST | | mid-day online desk
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 84 not out (48b, 5x4, 7x6) and scored 24 in the final over bowled by Umesh Yadav when 26 were needed but the blows by Dale Steyn first who removed opener Shane Watson and one-drop Suresh Raina off successive balls in the very first over and Yadav later, which reduced CSK to 32 for 4 when the six Powerplay overs ended, were just too much to recover from.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni urged his top-order to get their acts together and finish more matches going into the business end of the Indian Premier League.
Dhoni's superb 48-ball-84 went in vain as RCB beat CSK by one run to stay afloat in the league.
CSK's problem has been their top-order where Shane Watson (147 runs), World Cup reject Ambati Rayudu (192 runs) and Suresh Raina (207 runs) have performed well below-par. The pressure has been entirely on Dhoni, who leads the charts with 314 runs.
"I think it was a good game. We did really well to restrict them to a below-par total, but we needed some good batting at the top. Once you know the opposition attack, you have got to stick to your plans and if you lose too many wickets upfront that puts pressure and the middle order really can't go after the bowlers from the start," Dhoni said at the end of the match.
Dhoni wants his top-order to be more discreet with shot selection.
"It's easy to go and play the big shot and even if I get out others will do the job. Problem arises when you don't play big shots and that puts pressures on others. That's something we need to calculate. That's why I think the top three can be finishers. They may do it a few times."
The CSK skipper said that batting in the middle-order involves a lot of calculation.
"When you bat at Nos 5, 6 or 7 whatever you are calculating you have to put a lot of thinking behind it because you lose one more wicket and the game is over at that point of time."
Dhoni felt that the Chinnaswamy track was difficult one to bat on with its spongy bounce.
"It was still difficult at the end. It was slightly spongy (the pitch) and the new batsmen found it difficult. Boundaries were needed and yes we have lost by one run but at the same time we have to see what if there were few dot balls and whether we could have got those extra boundaries or not."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's refusal to take three singles in the penultimate over with big-hitting Dwayne Bravo at the other end raised a few eyebrows but Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming says he will "never question" his skipper's game-plan at the death.
With 36 runs needed in the last two overs, Dhoni refused three singles in the 19th over bowled by Navdeep Saini getting just 10 off it including a six off a no-ball.
In the last over, 26 runs were needed and Dhoni nearly pulled it off with a 24 off the first five balls before Parthiv Patel ran Shardul Thakur out to win the match for RCB by one run.
"He is so calculative that I would never question the last part of an innings with MS Dhoni. Yes, Bravo's got power but if MS has a feeling that he's going to win it this way, I'm going to back him every time," Fleming said at the media conference
"He's done this so many times and look, tonight he got us so close to the game so I'll never question that," he added.
When asked why Dhoni refused those singles, Fleming said the veteran always believes in calculating the difference between runs and balls to check how many sixes he needs to hit.
"I think the reason was Dhoni felt he was best equipped to hit those sixes. The way he calculates the last few overs based on his power.
"He would have looked at it saying 'I need four-five sixes' to win the game. And as it panned out, it was pretty close," said Fleming.
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