Dubai: Despite being 24 for 4 in six overs, Chennai Super Kings came back strong riding on a superb unbeaten half century (88 from 58 balls) from Ruturaj Gaikwad to post a competitive total of 156/6 in their allotted 20 overs and later restricted Mumbai Indians to 136 for 8 to win the second half of 2021 IPL opener by 20 runs, here on Sunday.
Speaking about the win, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni said getting close to 160 after losing four early wickets was tremendous. "At 30 for 4, you want to put up a respectable score, I felt Rutu and Bravo got us more than what we expected. We thought of 140, to get close to 160 was tremendous. The wicket was two-paced, slightly slow to start off. Also it's difficult if you're batting lower down, if you don't get a chance to see what is happening, you want to go hard. Rayudu got injured, so it was tough to come back from there but we batted sensibly and finished superbly. It was sensible for one batter to bat right through to the end," said Dhoni.
Mumbai Indians captain Kieron Pollard too praised Ruturaj and said if one person bats through, he could surely hurt the opposition. "Ruturaj batted really well. In T20 cricket, if one person bats through he can hurt you. We didn't finish off well with the ball. Losing by 20 runs you know those were the extra runs we conceded. Surface was good, new ball had movement, our seamers got early wickets. But we wanted to continue that momentum all the way. Even though they got 150+, as a batting team we could've gotten that," said Pollard.
Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad is the Player of the Match, said, " Given the pressure we were in, it's obviously one of my top innings until now. I had to grind it out, bat till 10-12 overs, give myself time and push for 120-130, and then slowly 140-150 was possible. It was a matter of spending time in the middle. Mahi bhai, everyone in the CSK management, once they back you, they don't make you think anything but positive things. The Sri Lanka tour and preparation coming here helped a lot. Initially there was seam and swing movement, but I had to take my chances against the spinners. Jaddu just came in so I had to take a chance and it came off well."
