Chennai Super Kings’ playoff hopes suffered a serious setback after a seven-wicket defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Friday, leaving the five-time champions in a must-win situation heading into the final stretch of the IPL league stage.
With 12 points from 12 matches, CSK now need victories in their remaining games and favourable results elsewhere to stay in contention for a playoff spot. Already out of the tournament, LSG dented Chennai’s campaign with a dominant chase powered by Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, who took the game away from the visitors with an aggressive opening stand.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted his side failed to execute with the ball but insisted the team was not giving up on qualification hopes.
“Bowling had an off-day today. The first challenge is getting to Chennai and make sure we improve on the areas we need to improve, and then adapt and assess the conditions [in the remaining two league games],” Gaikwad said after the match.
Despite the defeat, Gaikwad insisted that Chennai’s qualification hopes are still alive and said the team is not panicking over the current situation.
“It is simple [playoff hopes], nothing complicated. Nothing to worry about, just ensure we have a good day and hope that we turn things around,” Gaikwad said.
CSK believed they had posted a competitive total on a surface where they expected scoring to be difficult. However, once Lucknow’s aggressive approach came into play, Chennai struggled to slow the scoring rate. Gaikwad felt the pitch did offer some help to the fast bowlers, but credited the LSG batters for handling the conditions well.
“There was a bit of something for the fast bowlers. Found it difficult to hit it off a hard length. We were looking at 160-170, and got 180. Nothing much better we could have done from a batting point of view,” he explained.
Marsh and Inglis put together a commanding partnership at the top of the order and attacked Chennai’s short-ball plans from the beginning. Gaikwad said the team had specific strategies prepared against both batters but admitted the bowlers were unable to execute consistently.
“They (LSG) batted well and played some extraordinary shots,” Gaikwad said.
“We were looking [to bowl the short ball] but [Josh] Inglis played differently in the last game, and Marsh plays the short ball well, so we were trying to hit a hard length.”
In the end, the CSK skipper acknowledged that Lucknow simply played better cricket on the night.
“We missed on execution but they played extraordinary shots. Sometimes the opposition can play good cricket than you, and you have to accept it,” he said.