Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni blames experienced international batters for loss against Kings XI Punjab
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sarcastic in his criticism of the Chennai Super Kings bowlers as they were knocked out of the IPL after losing the Qualifier 2 to Kings XI Punjab on Friday.
MS Dhoni
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Punjab yet again buried CSK under a mountain of runs, scoring a mammoth 226-6. It is third time that Punjab scored more than 200 runs against CSK. "I had the belief in my bowling that they will let them score more than 200 runs. But we need to give them (Punjab) credit, they batted well," Dhoni said.
Dhoni believed his side was on the way of securing the final berth after Suresh Raina's 25-ball 87 but some "irresponsible cricket by some of the most experienced international cricketers" cost CSK the game.
"I think definitely it (227) was something we could have achieved, the reason being Suresh (and) the way he batted," Dhoni said.
CSK's Brendon McCullum looks dejected after being run-out for 11 against Punjab on Friday. Pic/PTI
"I think in the middle overs there was some very irresponsible cricket by some of the most experienced international cricketers, so I think definitely we need to have a look, in a game like this when the stakes are high, you can't really commit mistakes," he added.
Losing momentum
The run-outs of Raina and Brendon McCullum saw CSK lose momentum while chasing the huge target set by KXIP, said CSK's coach Stephen Fleming.
"We did not feel we were out of the game and certainly the first six overs showed how good the pitch was.
Tough chasing that amount of runs over a period of time you are going to get setbacks but there's no doubt those two runs outs were instrumental in our losing momentum," said Fleming.
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