Batsmen Let The Bowlers Down Against KKR: CSK Skipper Dhoni Blames Batters For 10-Run Defeat

After the match, CSK skipper MS Dhoni blamed his batsmen for the team's loss by stating that the failure to rotate strike in the middle overs and hit the boundaries in the fag end of the innings were the major reasons behind them ending up on the losing side.

MS Dhoni (Pic; PTI)

  Chennai Super Kings (CSK) succumbed to yet another defeat in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE as they fell short by 10 runs while chasing a 168-run target set by Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening (Oct 6). After the match, CSK skipper MS Dhoni blamed his batsmen for the team's loss by stating that the failure to rotate strike in the middle overs and hit the boundaries in the fag end of the innings were the major reasons behind them ending up on the losing side. "In the middle overs there was a phase where they bowled 2-3 good overs. If we batted better, and didn't lose 2-3 wickets in a row, We should've been careful in the first 5-6 overs. Curran was really good with the ball, and I think we did well in general with the ball, but the batsmen let the bowlers down today," said the 39-year-old. "Rotation of strike was important, but I think there were hardly any boundaries in the final few overs, so we need to be innovative at the end when they are continuously hitting a back of a length. That's where we need to adapt better with the bat and I don't think we did that," he added. Chasing a getable 168-run target to win the match, CSK looked in full control of their chase when both their openers Shane Watson and Ambati Rayadu provided them with a breezy start in the powerplays. When Du Plessis departed after a quick fire, middle order batsman Ambati Rayadu kept the scoreboard ticking with Shane Watson. However, KKR spinners pegged back CSK by slipping in a few tidy overs and turned the tide of the game in their favour. After Rayadu and Watson fell, CSK's middle order once again failed to get going and struggled to keep up with the required run rate. With the required rate swelling to both Dhoni and Jadhav consumed a lot of deliveries but failed to hit the boundaries. Ravindra Jadeja did try to provide the late flourish but it was too late by then. The defeat against KKR meant that CSK had lost four out of their six games in the IPL so far and continue to find themselves in the bottom half of the table