Chennai Super Kings just know how to get the job done in crunch situations, and once again it came to the fore in the clash against the Delhi Capitals. The young Delhi team were not allowed to get off the blocks as MS Dhoni was on the money with his bowling and fielding changes and then his openers in Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson got the job done with the bat.
However, despite a convincing win, the skipper was not very happy with the openers for not getting the job done and getting out at a time when they should have stayed put to take the side over the line. Speaking at the end of the match, Dhoni said that although he will take the win in his stride, he wants the openers to finish the job once set.
'Different captains have different views'
"I would have preferred the openers to get a few more runs because, in knockout games, there's no reason to go after the bowlers when the RRR is below six. If the openers had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards. Why not stay till the end and get the runs under your belt (from the openers)? That would have been better, different captains have different views about that, but I'm happy to take the win anyway," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.
Faf du Plessis, who was once again brilliant in a crunch game, conceded after the match that as a team they had the confidence of winning crucial games and hence, it was his responsibility to take care of the powerplay overs.
"We have a lot of confidence as a team to win a lot of big games - so we draw confidence from that. From the previous games, the guys were playing some great shots up front. But it wasn't the same kind of wicket. We also know the strength of ours is getting those partnerships - even if we go 3-4 overs without runs, we have a great lower and middle order to bring us back," du Plessis said after the match.
With the now final at stake, Chennai Super Kings will take on the Mumbai Indians, a side which has beaten them in all the three matches so far this season. Both sides have won three titles so far, both sides know each other like the back of their palms, and both sides know how to react to pressure scenarios. It all promises to be a cracking final episode of this enthralling season.
