Kamal Ghorui
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said things are “coming together slowly” for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after the team recorded its second straight win, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs on Tuesday.CSK, going through a transition, came into the match after a 23-run win over Delhi Capitals and followed it up with another win to move up to eighth place in the points table.“Slowly, slowly, it is starting to come together, I feel,” Gaikwad told the broadcaster after the match.“Everyone kind of knows what their role is, which overs and what lengths to bowl at. I think they are adjusting and adapting really well according to what (the) team needs.”“As I said, slowly, slowly, we are getting better and better and that is a good sign for us,” he said.Gaikwad said the team was aiming for a score of around 220, but the total of 192/5 turned out to be enough.“We defended a good score. I felt it was a par score, given that the wicket drastically changed after the first seven or eight overs,” he said.“It started spinning a bit, it started stopping a bit. We were first looking at 220, 210, but then, we thought anything around 190, 180 would be a good score and after that, we just had to get a good power play in bowling,” Gaikwad added.Gaikwad, who has been struggling for runs this season, having scored just 63 runs in five games so far, said on his form, “Well, firstly, I think, good to be on winning side after a long time. I felt it was getting into my head even when I was batting, but after the last game, I felt a bit relaxed, I feel I’m feeling really good. Just make sure that do whatever the team needs, whatever the situation needs. And I feel even mentally, I’m feeling really well, feeling positive, and just a big, a big knock is just around the corner, but as long as the other guys are just covering up for me definitely I’ll do it when it’s needed.“CSK’s win was set up by Noor Ahmad, who returned figures of 3/21 and picked up key wickets in the chase. He said managing conditions was important.“The dew was there, and it was humid, so (I was trying to) keep my fingers dry and that helped me a lot to hit the right areas,” he said.“I think the ball was not coming really well to the bat and to get advantage of that, it was good. I will keep putting effort to contribute for my team in the coming matches,” he said.KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said the bowlers did well to restrict CSK but the batters failed to build momentum.“No real momentum with the bat, absolutely. I thought with the ball we (did) really good, 190 on this wicket was really good, especially (when in) the powerplay they got 70 odd runs,” Rahane said.“After that, pulling back to 190 was an amazing job from our bowling unit. I thought initially with our batting, we just got 36 or 37 runs in the powerplay.”Rahane said the team needs to stay positive despite five losses.“It’s tough at the moment. Yes, we’re not winning matches, it’s tough. What is important for all of us as a group is to stay positive, keep our head up, keep our chin up, just focus on the moment,” he said.“It’s all about being positive and keep our heads up,” Rahane said.Rahane also spoke about pacer Kartik Tyagi, who bowled at 148.2 kmph and dismissed Sanju Samson for 48.“He is working really hard in the nets. He is been bowling really good and a great talent. The pace which he’s bowling at the moment has been amazing. Game by game, he is improving his skills,” Rahane said.
