CSK suffered a defeat in their first game of the season against DC who strolled through during their run chase of 189. The CSK bowlers had no answer to the onslaught of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw as they conceded 190 runs in just 18.4 overs. Moreover, they could pick up just three wickets.
It wasn’t the best start to the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League for the three-time champions Chennai Super Kings. Their middle-order did an excellent job of helping the side recover from 7/2 and post 188 while batting first in their opening game against the Delhi Capitals. However, the bowlers were disappointing as they couldn’t control the flow of runs, nor could they take wickets.
It was a flat pitch, and there was quite a bit of dew, but the CSK bowlers’ execution was well off. The Delhi opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw smashed them to all corners of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A couple of chances went down, but apart from that, the Dhawan-Shaw duo blasted their way to individual half-centuries and put on 138 in 13.3 overs. Eventually, Delhi hunted down 189 with eight balls to spare.
CSK skipper lamented on the dew and the execution of his bowlers. He hopes that the bowlers would’ve learnt a hard lesson and will apply themselves better in the future.
We could have bowled slightly better, and if batters are hitting you over the fields, that’s fair enough. The execution of the bowlers was poor and there were boundary balls that they bowled, but the bowlers will have learned and they will apply that in the future games.
MS Dhoni said in the post-match presentation with the official broadcasters.
CSK have almost a week off as they next face Punjab Kings on the 16th of April. It will be played at the same venue, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, a part of the ODI series against Pakistan, is still in quarantine and won’t be available for the next game. Josh Hazlewood pulled out of this IPL, and Jason Behrendorff has been named his replacement. However, the left-arm pacer is yet to arrive in India.
