Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja just about pulled off an incredible win with their finish-overs hitting – the event ended with Super Kings one hit clear of victory having wanted 54 from 18 balls at one degree – however the Super Kings captain advised after the event that it need not have come down to that state of affairs within the first position.
“I think [we lost it] in the middle [overs while batting], we needed a bit more strike rotation,” Dhoni stated on the post-match presentation. “I don’t think there was a lot [of help] for the spinners. Yes, they have experienced spinners, so they bowled very well. They were bowling the right length, but I felt in that period you have [we had] too many dot balls.
“If the wicket is sluggish, if it is preventing and turning, then I will be able to perceive, however with the set batsman and the brand new batsman getting in, I do not believe it used to be that tricky. So I believe the possession wishes to come from the batsmen.”
Dhoni faced two of the last three balls, only managing to drag them along the ground for singles. In between, Sandeep bowled one ball to Jadeja, angling it away from the left-hander’s hitting arc from over the wicket and conceding another single.
Sandeep explained his thought process when he was interviewed by Star Sports after the match.
“In the closing over, I sought after to execute yorkers,” he said. “I’ve been bowling excellent yorkers within the nets. One aspect of the bottom used to be larger, so I believed I’d use it and bowl on the [batter’s] heel however they grew to become out to be low complete-tosses and went for 6. Then I modified my plan and went across the wicket, hoping for a transformation, and it used to be excellent that the end result used to be other.
“I bowled over the wicket to Jaddu bhai and my plan was to keep the ball away from his reach. The shots he hit to Jason [Holder] were down the ground. So my plan was to take it away from his reach. And to Mahi bhai, my plan was to change the angle as I got hit for two sixes while bowling at the heel from over the wicket. So I went around the wicket and bowled it wide, and changed the angle.”