First six overs made the difference: Dhoni after CSK’s loss

Rajasthan Royals needed a win to get back on track and they did so by defeating Chennai Super Kings by 32 runs in their first home game at Jaipur on Thursday.

Opting to bat, Rajasthan put up 202 for 5 with Yashasvi Jaiswal slamming a 43-ball 77. He along with Jos Buttler (27) provided the start by scoring 64 for 0 in the powerplay. Chennai did well to pull things back with Rajasthan at 139 for 3 in 15 overs.

But when Chennai hoped to keep the hosts under 180, Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15) and Devdutt Padikkal (27* off 13) had other plans as Rajasthan scored 49 runs off the last three overs.

Chennai captain MS Dhoni speaking to the broadcaster after the match said the score was above par and mentioned that the start Rajasthan got made the difference in the result.

Also read: Rajasthan Royals back on top of points table

“It was quite a bit above par score. The reason was the first six overs, we gave away too many in the first six. At the same time the wicket was best to bat on at that period. Then our bowlers bowled well in the middle overs but even when we were finishing, there were a few edges that went for boundaries and that actually kept adding to the score. If I just go through it, maybe there were at least five or six boundaries with edges and that had a very big impact on the score. I think they got a par-plus score and we were not able to get a good start in the first six overs,” Dhoni said.

While praising Jaishwal and Jurel for their batting, Dhoni once again reiterated that it was the first six overs that made the difference.

“Yashasvi batted really well, it was important to go after the bowlers and I think he took calculated risks. It felt it was slightly easy with our bowlers because they had to assess as to what is a good length to bowl. As a captain you can tell them initially that you want to be slightly on the shorter side.

“But it’s very difficult to calculate as to what is that shorter side. So I felt initially we gave away a few boundaries that were too up (on the fuller side) and then you are doing the catching up work. Still I felt Yashasvi batted very well at the top and in the last few Jurel batted well. (But) I think it was in the first six that took the game away from us,” said the Chennai skipper.

Sanju Samson, skipper of Rajasthan said he took a chance to bat first after winning the toss. “Winning this game was needed for the team atmosphere and for the fans, also our first win in Jaipur. We can’t go one dimensional; if you’re playing in Chinnaswamy or Wankhede, you will chase but looking at the conditions here, I took the chance to bat first. Even when we batted, all the youngsters came in and did the job. The mindset of attacking is a nice change,” he said.