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Dhoni praises bowlers, fielders after win over Mumbai Indians
After sealing a place in the second qualifier with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaped praise on his bowlers for putting up a good show on a wicket that was favourable for batting.
"I think the bowlers did a real good job. It was a very good wicket to bat on. Ashish (Nehra) and Ishwar (Pandey) moved the ball around a bit. In the middle overs, the spinners bowled well," said Dhoni, after Chennai chased down Mumbai's 173-8 with eight balls to spare at Brabourne stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday night.
"180-185 was a par score; good track, fast outfield and not too big boundaries. 173 was just a bit under par, but we needed to score the runs.
"It would have been better had the top order carried on. It would have made life easier for (David) Hussey and (Suresh) Raina."
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'We didn't panic; that's where experience counts'
Chennai pulled off some difficult catches. One of them was of Corey Anderson, the hero of Mumbai's last match against Rajasthan Royals.
A top-edge from Anderson went high and Ishwar Pandey had to wait patiently at deep backward square leg before pouching it to dismiss the New Zealander.
Talking about those magical catches, Dhoni said: "I thought those catches would have been dropped, but Ishwar's catch was brilliant.
"We knew Anderson will try and swing and I kept (Ravichandran) Ashwin for him and it paid off."
Dhoni said it Hussey and Raina's experience that helped them, and they were always confident of pulling off the chase.
"We didn't panic. That's where experience counts. I felt with Hussey around, if he gets going he can accelerate... and the firepower with me and (Ravindra Jadeja) Jaddu around, we could chase 9 or 10 an over," he said.
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'I knew I had to bat till the last over'
It was a good day for Raina. He was not only adjudged the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 33-ball 54, but earlier in the day he was named the captain of the Indian team that will be touring Bangladesh next month.
Raina said: "God has been very kind to me (after being named captain of India for the Bangladesh tour). We executed the bowing plan really well. And then the batsmen, all of them did their job. I knew I had to bat till the last over.
"The wicket was really good, ball was coming on nicely. I knew I could hit (Pragyan) Ojha over mid-wicket and (Harbhajan Singh) Bhajji over cover. Huss (David Hussey) was batting well and we were running between the wickets well too.
Talking about their fielding, Raina said: "Ishwar took a brilliant catch to dismiss Anderson and hopefully we can continue playing good cricket in the next two games as well."
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I have a lot of pride in my team: Rohit
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma conceded that it was just not his team's day.
"We batted well till the 15th-16th over. 170 was a good enough target. We would have liked some more, but we really played well. I have a lot of pride in this side and how long we've come in this tournament. This just wasn't our day."
He lauded his team for bouncing back after losing the first five games in UAE leg.
"We showed a lot of character after losing the first five games. Coming back to India and performing like that was incredible," he said.
"I didn't have to do too much; we were in that momentum after our last win and we wanted to carry it though to this game. But, unfortunately, CSK were the better team today and that's what it is.
"We've got some work to do and hopefully we'll come back bigger and stronger next year."