Slightly difficult with such total: CSK skipper Gaikwad after 8-wicket loss against LSG

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 20 (ANI): After his side’s 8-wicket loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Friday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said that it was difficult for them with a target of 177 runs.

While speaking at the post-match presentation, Gaikwad said that they finished well with the bat in the first inning. He added that in the first inning, they kept losing wickets at “regular intervals”.

“We finished well with the bat, couldn’t have asked more with the situation we were in. After powerplay, we couldn’t capitalise on the start we got and we kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I would say we were 10-15 runs short. Slightly difficult with such a total, with the impact sub rule, you need 10-15 or even 20 runs extra,” Gaikwad said.

The CSK skipper said that with dew coming, the pitch at the Ekana Cricket Stadium got better. He added that they want to improve in taking wickets in the powerplay, which will put pressure on the opposition.

“Pitches like these seem sluggish to start off with but with dew coming on, it gets better, 190 would have been a good score. One area we would like to improve is taking wickets in the powerplay. That will put pressure on the opposition. We need to work on it. It was good to play them again (next game at Chepauk). We will come up with good homework done now that we have three home games,” he added.

Recapping the match, after winning the toss, LSG sent CSK to bat on Friday. Ravindra Jadeja (57) and Moeen Ali’s (30) 51-run partnership and later MS Dhoni’s (28) blazing cameo powered CSK to 176/6 in the first inning.

During the run chase, LSG skipper KL Rahul (82) and Quinton de Kock (54) added 134 runs in the opening partnership, which helped Lucknow dominate over the visitors. Later, Nicholas Pooran (23) and Marcus Stoinis (8) propelled LSG to an 8-wicket win over CSK.

After the win on Friday, LSG hold fifth place in the IPL 2024 standings with 8 points and a net run rate of +0.123. Meanwhile, CSK stand in third place with 8 points and a net run rate of +0.529.