Chennai Super Kings suffered their second successive loss in the IPL 2020, as they fell short of the Delhi Capitals total by 44 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Throwing light on where his side lacked during the game, CSK skipper MS Dhoni said that they are “lacking a bit of steam in the batting department”. Chasing 176 to win, CSK got off to a poor start as they lost both their openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay cheaply inside the powerplay, putting pressure on the middle order. Dhoni also alluded that they still don’t know what their best combination is and added that at the moment they are playing with one extra batsman but Ambati Rayudu‘s availability for the next game will give them some “room to experiment”

“I don’t think it was a good game for us. There was no dew, but the wicket did slow down. We are lacking a bit of steam in the batting and that hurts. The run rate keeps on mounting after such slow starts and adds pressure, we need to figure that out. We need to come back with a clearer picture, looking at the combination” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.

“Maybe, the team balance will get better once Rayudu comes back in the next game. That will give us the room to experiment with an extra bowler perhaps. There are quite a few things we can think about. We are one batter extra to start off, so the players need to step up,” he added.

The 39-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was not happy the way his bowlers bowled during the game, suggesting that they need to better their line and lengths. 

Playing at MA Chidambaram Stadium, CSK have always relied on their spinners to do the job for them. However, they have failed to deliver so far in the tournament, leaking runs for fun and in Dhoni’s own words are yet to “come to the party”. Dhoni also complained about the lack of consistency among his bowlers who concede boundaries a bit too often.

“We need to get better with our lengths, lines and pace. I think the spinners have not come to the party yet. We are bowling good deliveries, but we are giving away the boundary deliveries bit too often,” he explained.

Unlike Dhoni, Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer was delighted with his side’s performance. Apart from a couple of dropped catches, there wasn’t much to complain about Delhi players’ efforts on the field. In fact, Iyer was not too much bothered about the dropped chances and gave the “benefit of doubt” to his fielders, calling the conditions tough to field. 

After the first game, Delhi openers started cautiously and Iyer revealed it was part of their game plan as during their team meeting  they had decided that instead of charging from ball one they will assess the conditions and bat accordingly.

“I am really happy with the performance. I would give them the benefit of doubt, is tough to catch in these conditions. You misjudge the ball, really don’t know how to pace yourself. In the team meeting we decided that we are going to assess the batting conditions early and then play accordingly. The way the openers started gave us a lot of confidence and the finish was good too,” Iyer said after the match.

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Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were the pick of the bowlers for Delhi Capitals and Iyer was mighty impressed by how both of them stuck together and bowled as per team’s requirements. 

“I am lucky to have KG and Nortje in the team. It’s important to stick together as a team and we need to enjoy each other’s success,” he said praising his two South African fast bowlers.