Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: After a hard-fought five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni emphasized the need for more batter-friendly pitches, stating that such conditions would give his team greater confidence at the crease. He also underlined the importance of playing fearless cricket.
Doing what he does best 💛 🫡
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 14, 2025
For his brilliant finishing act of 26*(11) and yet another 🔝 effort behind the stumps, #CSK skipper MS Dhoni is the Player of the Match 🙌 💥
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/jHrifBkT14 #TATAIPL | #LSGvCSK | @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/Xcw0whVQo4
CSK finally broke their five-match losing streak on Monday at the Ekana Stadium, chasing down 167 with five wickets and three balls to spare. Their recent performances, particularly at home, had drawn criticism for being overly cautious and lacking aggression with the bat.
Chasing 156 against Mumbai Indians at home proved difficult, and they managed just 146/8 when attempting to reach 197 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In other home games, CSK posted 158/5 in pursuit of 184 against Delhi Capitals, and a dismal 103/9 against Kolkata Knight Riders in a first-innings effort. Even in away games, they came up short—missing Rajasthan Royals’ 183-run target and falling 18 runs shy of Punjab Kings’ 220.
Following Monday’s win, Dhoni reflected on the team’s struggles and the road ahead during the post-match presentation.
“It is good to win a game. When you play a tournament like this, you want to win games. Unfortunately, the [earlier] matches did not go our way for whatever reasons. There can be lots of reasons. It is good to have a win on our side. Gives confidence to the whole team and helps us improve in areas we want to improve. We all knew that when it does not come your way in cricket, God makes it very tough, and it was a tough game. If you see the powerplay, whether it was the combination or the conditions, we were struggling with the ball. And then we weren’t able to get the start we wanted as a batting unit.”
“Also the fall of wickets. We keep losing wickets at the wrong time to some extent. One of the reasons could be that the Chennai wicket is slightly on the slower side. When we have played away from home, the batting unit has done slightly better. Maybe we need to play on wickets that are slightly better so that it will give the batters confidence to play their shots. You do not want to play timid cricket,” he added.
Match Recap:
Also SEE : MS Dhoni’s Heroics Seal Thrilling Win For CSK Against Lucknow Super Giants
CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first. LSG’s innings lacked momentum apart from a solid 50-run partnership between Mitchell Marsh (30 off 25 balls) and Rishabh Pant. Pant anchored the innings with a composed 63 off 49 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and four sixes. He also shared a late 53-run stand with Abdul Samad (20 off 11) to lift LSG to 166/7.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/24) and Matheesha Pathirana (2/45) were the standout bowlers for Chennai.
CSK’s run chase started strong, thanks to a 52-run opening stand between debutant Shaikh Rasheed (27 off 19) and Rachin Ravindra (37 off 22). However, the side slipped to 111/5 by the 15th over. That’s when Shivam Dube (43* off 37) and Dhoni (26* off 11) came together to guide CSK home in the final over.
Despite the win, CSK still sit at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table with just two wins from seven games. LSG, meanwhile, have dropped to fourth after suffering their third loss in seven matches.
Dhoni was named Player of the Match for his match-winning knock.