Visakhapatnam: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings entered their eighth IPL final and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni credited the clinical effort of his bowing unit for setting up the platform for a comfortable win over Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2 here.
Opting to bowl, CSK first restricted DC to 147 for nine and then chased down the target with six wickets in hand, to set up a clash against Mumbai Indians in the IPL final in Hyderabad, Sunday.
“The crucial part was to keep getting wickets. The credit needs to go to the bowlers. The captain only asks this is what I need. Then it’s up to them to figure out how to bowl, and they have to put in the hard yards,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Thanks to the bowling department for where we are this season. I would have preferred it if the openers finished it off. Once they got the required rate below 6 an over, there was no reason to play big shots and get out. They did the hard yards,” he added.
Dhoni also lauded the entire CSK team for producing a clinical performance when it mattered.
“It’s the usual route, last year was the exception. The kind of response from the boys today was brilliant. The way we batted to get 140-plus runs was very nice,” he said. “The spinners got some turn, and we kept getting wickets at the right time.”
DC captain Shreyas Iyer, on the contrary, blamed his batting department for the loss.
“We had a disappointing start, losing two wickets in the powerplay, and it was hard to recover from that. They have amazing spinners. But we’ve had a great season,” he said.
“None of the batsmen took the initiative to take the team through and there wasn’t a partnership building. Disappointing for us but a good learning,” he added.
PTI
