“Nothing out of ordinary…”: MS Dhoni speaks about score of 154 not being ‘Justifiable’ during SRH vs CSK clash

Dhoni claims 154 to not be justifiable for Chepauk

MS Dhoni on April 25 admitted that a low score of 154 runs was not “justifiable” on the surface of Chepauk as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have almost sent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) almost out of the race to playoffs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad had comfortably chased their target in 18.4 overs, and after the match, Dhoni stated that it becomes very difficult when lot of players fail to perform.

“I think we kept losing wickets and in the first innings, the wicket was slightly better and 154 wasn’t a justifiable score. It wasn’t turning a lot, may be a little two-paced but nothing out of the ordinary,” Dhoni said after the end of the match.

“Yes, second innings there was a bit of help. Our spinners, the quality was there and they were bowling in the right areas, but we were 15-20 runs short,” he added.

“I think he batted really well and we needed that in the middle order. When the spinners come in, you do it either by batsmanship or picking the right areas, but that’s an area where we want to improve because middle overs are crucial.” he further added.

“In a tournament like this, if there are one or two areas to plug in the holes it’s good, but when a majority of the players are not doing well you need to make changes. You can’t just keep going. We are just not putting enough runs on the board,” he concluded.

Coming to the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Friday to keep their play-off hopes alive.

With his defeat, CSK almost bowed out of the play-offs race even as SRH stayed alive theoretically.

Sent into bat, Chennai Super Kings were bowled out for 154. In reply, SRH completed the task in 18.4 overs with Ishan Kishan (44), Kamindu Mendis (32 not out) and Nitish Reddy (19 not out) making valuable contributions with the bat.