Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were looking at a par total of 165 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the extra runs from Ravindra Jadeja in the last over helped win Sunday's Indian Premier League match, said CSK captain MS Dhoni.
Jadeja, who scored 62 off just 28 balls, smashed 37 runs off the last over to propel CSK to 191/4 wickets and then took three wickets to lead them to a 69-run win.
"Jaddu is somebody who can change the game on his own. In the last few years, we've seen significant change in his batting and it's worth it to give him that extra bit of time, extra deliveries. The bowlers have found it difficult to contain left-handers, and that helps as well. You can't really predict the quantum of victory," said Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"When we started, we had the conversation about whether to bat or bowl. It's a good wicket but I felt the spinners had something up their sleeves and I felt that extra few runs Jadeja made helped; 165 would have been par, and once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder," he said.
The win helped CSK displace RCB from the top of the points table. While CSK have got to a better start than they did last season, in which they failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time, Dhoni said they aren't doing anything too different from last year.
"We're not doing anything drastically different from what we did last year. Me and (head coach Stephen) Fleming, we keep saying that we focus on the process. You gain more respect if you keep following your path when you're under pressure. I think that is something that gave a lot of confidence to the players. Credit to the players. Everybody would have felt the pressure in the first game because it was a lean season," said Dhoni.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)