Our first match at #QilaKotla against CSK proved to be a low-scoring one.
We won the toss and skipper Iyer elected to bat first. Shaw and Dhawan gave us a solid start and we were 35 for no loss in 4 overs at one stage. However, Prithvi departed after played a good cameo of 24 off 16 deliveries.
Our skipper Iyer and Gabbar played watchfully and rotated the strike well. Shikhar also achieved a major milestone during the game. He surpassed Robin Uthappa to become the 5th highest run-getter in the IPL. Raina, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Gambhir are the only players above him in the overall run tally now. The southpaw has now amassed 4152 runs in 145 IPL matches.
Rishabh Pant continued from where he left off in Mumbai. The youngster continued the fireworks and played a cracking cameo of 25 runs off 13 deliveries.
However, our boys were dismissed quickly at a crucial juncture as we lost 4 wickets for 7 runs. Bravo got his 3rd wicket of the day in the form of Dhawan, who was back in the DC hut after making 51 off 47 deliveries. The Windies all-rounder turned the tables for Chennai Super Kings.
From being 118/2 (in 15 overs) at one stage, we were 128/6 (in 17.1 overs) at another. The CSK bowlers did a commendable job to restrict us to 147 runs in the end.
However, our bowlers gave their level best in a bid to defend the total.
Ishant got us off to a brilliant start and got Rayudu’s wicket early on. However, Watson and Raina steadied the ship for the visitors. Ishant bowled exceptionally well in his first 2 overs but conceded 18 in his 3rd over.
Runs were flowing from the bats of both Raina and Watson. We needed to change things quickly and required wickets to come back into the game.
Amit Mishra was brought on to the attack in the 7th over. Watson tried to unsettle him and smashed him for 2 sixes. However, our spin maestro showed his experience and Watson was stumped for 44 runs. This was Mishy’s 50th wicket at Kotla.
The dangerous-looking Raina was also dismissed by Mishra. A superbly bowled wrong one foxed the southpaw and he was caught behind in the 11th over. However, he had done the damage by then as he made 30 from 16 deliveries.
Despite the best efforts from our bowlers, we could not defend the total. The visitors also have to be lauded for their run chase. Chennai batsmen were just knocking it around in the end and that proved sufficient to guide them to a win. The MS Dhoni-led unit won the match by 6 wickets with a couple of deliveries to spare.
"We were 10-15 runs short. It happens. You can't blame anyone in this situation. We just got to move forward positively. Even in this situation we took the match till the last over. That was the plus point," skipper Iyer reflected after the loss.
Full focus on our next match now. Our boys lock horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders at #QilaKotla on 30th March 2019.
