MS Dhoni rues free-hits by Morkel and Ashwin – Cricket News Update
Skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808, here at Newlands in Cape Town, on Tuesday.
Chennai’s South African import http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228 was plundered for a four off a similar penalty in the 17th over, and Dhoni said that those free hits shifted the momentum in favour of the home team.
"The timing of the no-balls was crucial. Small things matter. All of a sudden the momentum shifted, they were able to score a lot more freely," Dhoni said after his side lost by six wickets to slump to their second consecutive defeat.
Earlier, after being put into bat the Super Kings posted a respectable 158 for six, with skipper MS Dhoni top scoring with a 26-ball 34. The rest of the batting line-up – except for Albie Morkel (4) and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/WP-Saha-c2800 (0*) – contributed valuable 20s.
"We got off to a very good start, we lost too many wickets in the middle, so we were not able to slog the way we could have, but we still got the score we wanted. I think 160 was a good score," said the visiting skipper.
However, the home side chased down the target quite comfortably in the final over, at the loss of just four wickets, courtesy a 93-run third-wicket stand between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Neil-McKenzie-c2094 (32).
The Lions had earlier defeated defending champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians in their tournament opener, on October 14, and now with two wins from two games, they are in a very good position to proceed to the semis. On the other side of the coin, Chennai are in a difficult position to make it to the final fours, having lost to the Sydney Sixers in their opening match, on Sunday.
However, Dhoni said that they would give their absolute best in the remaining two group fixtures – against Mumbai and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867 – to keep themselves alive in the tournament.
"It's difficult for us now to qualify for the semi-finals but nothing comes easy. We have to learn our mistakes and apply ourselves and come up with some big scores," said Dhoni.
The 2010 CLT20 champions will next play title holders Mumbai Indians, at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, on Saturday.
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