Dhoni blames T20 defeat on rain

Sydney: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday blamed the rain for the defeat in the first Twenty20 international against Australia, saying the wet conditions made it difficult for bowlers.
India lost the first T20 by 31-run and will have to win the next match on Friday to level the series.

"The weather played a big part in it. In England, we didn't win any tosses and it rained in the second innings and our bowling suffered because of that. This is the first toss I won over here and with the rain forecast I thought we would chase. But then it rained and spinners had difficulty in gripping the ball," said Dhoni in what is turning out to be a miserable summer for him.
"With the rain forecast and with the learning from England, I thought we would chase because the wicket gets better to bat on," he pointed out.
No sooner had Dhoni won the toss, it began to rain and even though it stopped soon enough, the ground was quite wet which affected the spinners from gripping the ball.
"I thought the wicket, if it doesn't get better it would at least remain the same. We got off to a good start but after that it didn't rain. It started to turn and grip and the odd ball was bouncing more than the normal delivery. It was difficult."
Dhoni though didn't stop short of criticising his batters who failed to show any application.
"May be if the top order would have stayed for a bit longer, with the new batsman coming in, they would play their shots with someone at the other end. The result could have been different because we struggled a lot and yet we were able to score 140-odd runs which means a bit more and the result would have been different.

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Dhoni: Raina, Vijay batted brilliantly

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni heaped praise on Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay for setting the platform for the comfortable 97-run victory over Wayamba in Group A match of the Champions League Twenty20 here on Wednesday.

Raina (87 off 44) and Vijay (68 off 48) shared a 137-run second-wicket partnership, that came off just 72 deliveries, to help Chennai post a mammoth 200 for three and set the tone for the convincing win at the SuperSport Park.

“We did not want to bat first because in this ground it is very hard to defend. But once we were sent into bat, we needed couple of extra runs, something over 180.

“And exactly that’s what the batsmen did. They started off cautiously and after that Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay batted brilliantly. They were easily picking up boundaries and in the end 200 is a very good score to defend,” Dhoni said.

“We want to win each and every game that we play. But we always talk about not to think too much about the result, instead prepare well for the game. It is really important to prepare well and execute your plans on the field,” he said.

The Chennai skipper also lauded his quick bowlers Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel for their impressive display upfront.

“It is important to have a quick bowler in the side. Dougie (Bollinger) came in as a replacement for us and all of a sudden the team looked different with his inclusion because pace really matters,” Dhoni said.

“Equally important was Albie Morkel’s spell because he has got the neck of picking wickets,” he added.

His Wayamba counterpart Jehan Mubarak was of the view that his bowlers’ awful performance in the middle overs cost his side the match.

He also lauded Chennai for their clinical display.

“They are a very good team and we knew we had to play our best cricket if we desire to beat them. But they brought out their best game today. Suresh (Raina) batted extremely well,” Mubarak said.

“We got a good start with (Ajantha) Mendis opening the bowling but there were four big overs in the middle, which produced in excess of 20 runs and I think this cost us the game,” he insisted.

Mubarak said opting to bat after winning the toss was not a wrong decision but his batters struggled from the onset of their innings.

“In Twenty20 cricket, the wicket and toss don’t play a big difference. The wicket was the pretty much the same all throughout the game but we struggled with the bat.

“We lost too many wickets early on and when you need to chase 10 an over from the start there is additional pressure on the batsmen,” he said.

Man-of-the-match Suresh Raina was also of the view that his second-wicket partnership with Vijay did the trick for his side.

“Vijay batted really well. Me and Vijay got a very good partnership which set the tone but at the end of the day credit goes to the team. We executed our plan really well,” he said.

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