MS Dhoni: We banked on our batsmen to win the match; Bravo was picked as batsman

MS Dhoni

While it can be argued that Kings 11 Punjab stepped into the field with their best available bowling line-up, one would be befuddled with what Chennai Super Kings had in their mind when they stepped into the ground with a bowling unit that consisted of Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Pawan Negi, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Dwayne Bravo was undeclared unfit to bowl even ahead of the match, as revealed by MS Dhoni later in the post-match presentation.

As expected, despite the mammoth score that the Super Kings managed to posted on the board – 205-4 – courtesy of a terrific opening partnership from Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum, the Chennai-based outfit lost the match quite comfortably by 6 wickets. Glenn Maxwell, coming in at number 3, continued to showcase his destructive batting abilities by taking the CSK bowlers to cleaners with a 43-ball 95, a knock that didn’t even spare Ravichandran Ashwin.

Here is what the captains and the Man-of-the-Match Glenn Maxwell had to say in the post match presentation ceremony:

MS Dhoni (CSK captain):

“When you score 200, you have to remember the opposition has every chance of scoring it as well. Fantastic wicket, they batted really well. We should have done better with the ball. [Bravo going off injured] Still he was not fit to bowl today, we played him as a batsman so we were a bowler short. Batsmen did their job, bowlers should have had different plans for different individuals. Bowl right areas. The margin of error is very small. Overall it will be difficult for the bowlers. Not much spin. We banked on our batsmen to win the match, but it didn’t happen.”

George Bailey (KXIP captain):

“Just try and be positive. It was a pretty good wicket. We pulled it back with the ball in the middle overs considering they were heading for 230. Maxi has been in great touch and we hope he carries on for Punjab.”

Glenn Maxwell:

“I play with the bowler to try and upset the bowler and find the gaps. Feels pretty good to chase down 200+ against Chennai, they’re a pretty good team. Hopefully the batsmen can keep it up and the bowlers can chip in as well”