Chennai Super Kings finally getting that win after 5 losses in a row. First victory under MS Dhoni who also win the player of the match award for finishing the game in a tense situation. A not so good outing for hosts LSG who hang on to the 4th spot in the table with still 8 points to their name.
That's it from our coverage from the 30th match of the season from Lucknow. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of Pritam Dey, Ajay Pal Singh, scorers Paras Yadav & Raju Khariya and statistician Aman. Stay tuned for more coverage from all around the cricketing world.
Most POTM Awards in IPL:
25 - AB de Villiers
22 - Chris Gayle
19 - Rohit Sharma
18 - MS Dhoni*
18 - David Warner
18 - Virat Kohli
MS Dhoni (CSK Captain & POTM): "It's good to win a game. When you play a tournament like this, it's good to win. Unfortunately, things have not gone our way. There can be lot of things but this win will give us a lot of confidence. It was a tough game but glad to get over the line on the winning side.
I think in the powerplay we were slightly struggling to get going in our bowling. We did well in the middle overs and ended the innings on a strong note in the death. There have been instances where the opposition got off to a good start but we came back strong and were able to restrict them to a total around the par score. We were not getting the kind of start which we wanted as a batting unit and the fall of wickets were concerning. One of the reasons could be the Chennai wickets which is slightly on the slower side. The batting unit have done well away from home. It's very important to express as a batting group.
Well, so far yes the bowling unit is doing better than the batting unit. We have made some changes. We need bowlers who do well in the powerplay. We were putting a lot of pressure on Ash as he was bowling 2 overs in the powerplay. We made a few changes where we wanted more bowlers who could bowl in the powerplay. I think this attack is a much better one. As a bowling unit we have done well but as a batting unit, I think we could've done better.
Because we are losing wickets at the wrong time, we need someone to play the anchoring role. We have practiced according to that but everyone needs to play according to the role. Consistency is important for us.
(On Shaik Rasheed) I think he batted really well today. He has been with us for sometime now. Last year he was good but this year, he was batting really well in the nets. He has the capability to dominate by playing authentic shots. He can play good shots unlike the other batters who slog around.
Even I was wondering why are you guys giving me the Player of the Match award. I think Noor bowled really well today. I feel the new ball bowlers bowled really well as well."
Player of the Match: MS Dhoni
Most Dot Balls in the Match: Noor Ahmad (13 dot balls)