Chennai Super Kings (CSK), under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, have already qualified for the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. However, there’s a theoretical chance of them failing to qualify in the top two and not getting a chance to play the first Qualifier and because of that, they will require to win both the games (eliminator and qualifier 2) to reach the final. On Monday, 0ctober 4, Delhi Capitals registered a three-wicket win over CSK in Dubai.
The Super Kings couldn’t manage to defeat a below-par score of 137 as Rishabh Pant and his men chased down the target with a couple of deliveries to spare. Meanwhile, Dhoni’s daughter Ziva was seen praying for CSK to win during the fag end of the match. She was spotted, praying to the almighty with closed eyes and folded hands. It was a pretty intense game, but the Super Kings couldn’t secure a victory.
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After being sent in to bat first, CSK had a brilliant start as they amassed 26 runs in the first couple of overs. However, after Axar Patel dismissed Faf du Plessis in the third over, CSK lost track and they never managed to get their momentum back. Despite Ambati Rayudu scoring an unbeaten 43-ball 55, they only managed to reach the score of 136 for five in their allotted 20 overs.
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CSK fought hard during the second half of the game, but Shimron Hetmyer had no intention of giving up he played a brilliant knock of 18-ball 28 to take the Capitals over the finishing line. Shikhar Dhawan laid the platform for the run-chase, scoring 39 before Shardul Thakur dismissed him.
After the loss, CSK slipped to second place and MS Dhoni admitted that his team was unable to bring out the required intensity. He felt that the pitch wasn’t an easy one to bat and a score around the 150-run mark would have been tough to track down.
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During the post-match presentation ceremony, MS Dhoni said, “We were looking to get closer to 150. After we lost a few wickets, around the 15-16th over mark the platform was nice. We failed to accelerate. I thought it was a tough pitch. Anything close to 150 would’ve been a good score. It’s a two-paced wicket. It’s not like it slowed down drastically. Can’t just play your shots. That’s what the Delhi batters also faced.”
