Gaikwad, Conway and Moeen give CSK a happy homecoming
They powered their way to 217 before the spinners strangled Lucknow Super Giants in their chase
They powered their way to 217 before the spinners strangled Lucknow Super Giants in their chase
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: @PeterDellaPenna
11.32 pm CSK give the home fans something to crow about after being away for nearly four years due mainly to Covid reshuffling. Emotional win.
Rummy: "Those 2 sixes hit by Dhoni in the last over is probably the difference between the two teams. "
LSG captain KL Rahul: "Obviously not the most ideal start after winning the toss and putting them into bat. The bowlers said it was sticky and moving a bit so there was something in it for them but they didn't put it in the right areas. When you have quality batters in the opposition, they will make you pay. Conway and Ritu played some brilliant shots so it's something for us to learn and get better at. When you bowl first on a fresh wicket, it takes a bit of time to understand what a good pace and line to bowl is on that wicket. Six overs going for 70-odd is probably what cost us the game in the end, but I can't pinpoint one thing. There were phases of the game that we didn't win and let it slip away. Kyle Mayers has come in with some real good form. I was watching some games that West Indies played and he was smoking the ball. It's good to see him come here with the same approach. In Lucknow, he hit the ball a mile and he did the same today. It's good to see what he's done with the opportunity. Bish also did very well. It's good to see different players putting their hands up to give us the best chance to win the game and that's something for us to take forward in the tournament. I think we were in the game in the second half quite a lot and got off to a really good start but lost a few wickets and kept pressing on. It's not often that you'll get 4 or 5 batsmen caught on the boundary. If a few of them had gone over, we would have been on the winning side. Sometimes in T20, those margins don't go your way."
CSK allrounder Mitchell Santner: "It was obviously a pretty good wicket to bat on. Both Powerplays looked challenging for the bowlers. We tried to tie it up in the middle. It was nice to see Moe getting wickets and I tried to tie it up at the other end. With the boundary dimensions, you want to get it to the big side bowling very wide. I'm used to that in New Zealand playing on one side of the block all the time. It's a privilege to play any game so I always try to do my best. Maybe as the tournament goes, we might play a couple more spinners but on your home patch, you want to defend it so it's good to win tonight. I had fun memories back in 2019 so it was nice to play back in front of these people and they make it pretty loud. It's a privilege to play in front of them."
CSK captain MS Dhoni: "It was a terrific game, high-scoring game. All of us were thinking how the wicket will be. We had that doubt. It was a high-scoring game. Overall I think it was a perfect first game that happened and it was a full house for the first game in 5 or 6 years since we've been here. I thought it will be much slower. It was a wicket where you could score runs but overall it got a bit slower. We'll have to see how it plays over the next six games at home but hopefully we can score here. It's the fast bowling that will need to slightly improve and bowl according to the conditions. Even if it's on the flatter side, force batters to hit over the fielders. They'll have to bowl no no balls and less wides. We are bowling too many extra deliveries and need to cut them out otherwise they'll be playing under a new captain."
Player of the Match goes to Moeen Ali for his 4 for 26 and 19 off 13 with the bat: "It's not easy. It was a tough one because obviously they have big hitters. I tried to bowl like I do in Test cricket and just spin it as hard as I can. They have big hitters so you don't want to get it up there against these guys but we had a good [bowling] partnership tonight so it was nice to get the win. MS knows what he's doing. The great thing about bowling under MS is he knows when to bowl players. I don't think I would have bowled myself last game either. As a spinning allrounder, it keeps you in the game and you want that. I'm not going to bowl all the time with Jadeja in there. I think it's going to take partnerships and individuals to stand up and win games."
That's it for tonight's coverage. Come back tomorrow for more live IPL action. Until then, take care!
A Badoni c †Dhoni b Deshpande 23 (38m 18b 0x4 0x6) SR: 127.77
He added that Dhoni "is still obviously in charge", and picked out Ruturaj Gaikwad as another potential option
CSK captain issues mock warning to quicks: "They will have to be ready to play under a new captain - it will be my second warning and I'll be off"
A crowd of about 35,000 got to watch a massive opening stand, wickets from the CSK spinners, and, of course, the good old Dhoni show
Wood has already picked eight wickets and Mayers has displayed two stunning shows of power-hitting
They powered their way to 217 before the spinners strangled Lucknow Super Giants in their chase