Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the
90-minute rain delay played a major role in his team's seven-wicket
defeat against Kochi on Monday.
The Super Kings were favourites to beat the Tuskers and they
looked on course for a big score before the heavens opened up and forced
players off the field after nine overs. When play resumed an hour and a
half later the game was reduced to 17-overs per side. It forced the
visitors to alter their plans and they could only muster 131 for four.
Dhoni believes the overs that were lost were the difference between a respectable score and a formidable one.
"The interruption didn't help us at all," Dhoni said at the
post-match press conference. "We lost three overs which proved to be
crucial in the end. We had marked those three overs to set ourselves up
for a big score.
"It was the timing of the interruption that became crucial. Badri
[Subramaniam Badrinath] had just walked in and the big hitters were
there in the dressing room. But can't take any credit away from the
Kochi bowlers as they did a good job in restricting us. Also [Brendon]
McCullum batted well and stayed nearly till the end."
Monday's
victory was Kochi's second in a row and captain Mahela Jayawardene feels
opener McCullum and number three Parthiv Patel laid the foundations for
the win.
"You can't anticipate rain," Jayawardene said.
"In
Twenty20 cricket you need a bit of luck along with doing the little
things right. It was a tactical gamble as to how we would bowl after the
break. Also, it was the partnership between Brendon and Parthiv that
helped us win the game. We should now look to keep the momentum going
our way."
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