Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had admitted that they are repeating the same mistakes as thei dismal run continued after the seven-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.
Batting first, Hyderabad posted a competitive total of 164 before restricting CSK to 157/5. The defeat at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which was their third in four matches in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw CSK dropping to the bottom of the points table.
“We have to get a lot of things right. It’s the professionalism – dropping catches, bowling no-balls. We’re making the same mistakes again. After the 16th over, we had two bad overs. Overall, we could have been slightly better,” said Dhoni in the after-match presentation.
The script was similar in both the innings as both the sides witnessed a top-order collapse with their middle-order trying to salvage pride.
For Hyderabad, it was Priyam Garg (51 off 26 balls), Abhishek Sharma (31 off 24) and Manish Pandey (29 off 21) who helped their team in crossing the 150+ mark after the Orange Army were reduced to 69/4 in 11 overs.
Chasing, CSK were down to 42/4 in the ninth over before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (47 off 36 balls) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (50 off 35) tried to get their team back into the contest.
With the required run-rate continuously mounting and Jadeja getting out, Dhoni and Sam Curran (15 not out) then tried their best to chase down the target by going for big hits. However, it wasn’t enough to stop SRH from registering their second consecutive win of the tournament.
Starting the proceedings, SRH received an early jolt as Deepak Chahar dismantled opener Jonny Bairstow’s stumps in the very first over and with a run on board.
David Warner (28) and Pandey (29) then tried to repair the damage as the 2016 champions were 42/1 in the initial six overs. The duo, however, failed to convert their partnership into something big as Shardul Thakur broke the 46-run stand in the eighth over.
Despite the top-order collapse, which comprised some of the most experienced batters of the game, the rescue act by young Garg and Abhishek Sharma’s rescue was the towering difference between Hyderabad and Chennai.