Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni felt his side had been "short by 15-20 runs" after they were bowled out for 154 on their way to a five-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday. It was CSK's seventh defeat in nine games in IPL 2025, and their first-ever home defeat to SRH.
CSK were at one stage poised for a better total, but lost their last six wickets for 40 runs after they were 114 for 4 in the 13th over.
"I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is I felt, in the first innings, the wicket was slightly better, and 155 [154] is not a justifiable score because it wasn't turning a lot," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation. "Yes, after the eighth, ninth, [or] tenth over, it became slightly two-paced when it comes to the fast bowlers. But nothing that was out of the ordinary. So I feel we could have run slightly better and put a few more runs on the board.
"Yes, [in the] second innings, there was a bit of help. Our spinners, the quality is there. So they were bowling in the right areas, and they got a bit of bounce. It was stopping a bit, but yeah, we were short by 15-20 runs."
Amid the batting collapse, one positive for CSK was the performance of the 21-year-old Dewald Brevis. Playing his first game of the season after being picked as an injury replacement for Gurjapneet Singh, Brevis walked out to bat at 47 for 3 in the final over of the powerplay. He went on to top-score for CSK on Friday, smashing four sixes in his 42 from 25 balls.
Three of Brevis' four sixes came in one over off spinner Kamindu Mendis. While praising Brevis, Dhoni pointed out that CSK otherwise needed to improve against that type of bowling.
"I think he batted really well, and we need something like that in the middle order," Dhoni said of Brevis. "Where we have slightly struggled is when the spinners come in, that's the time we need to either do it by batsmanship - pick up your areas where you're scoring - or try to play the big shot once in your area. So, I feel that's where we have been lacking.
"We have not been able to dominate or get runs against the spinners at a good pace in the middle. So that's one area where we want to improve because middle overs are very crucial - you have to get those extra five, ten or 15 runs, especially if you get off to a good start."
The loss against SRH has kept CSK at the bottom of the table, with just four points from nine games. CSK have lost four out of their five home games so far this season, and their next match is also at Chepauk. They host Punjab Kings on April 30, having lost to them by 18 runs earlier in the season in Mullanpur.