Luck favouring Chennai Super Kings, feels Chandrasekhar

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings, with an unbeaten record after four matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, admitted on Tuesday that there was an element of luck that had led them to victories.

"Two of our four matches could have gone either way. Against Mumbai Indians, we squeezed through by six runs and last night, in Bangalore, the Royal Challengers looked set to win after we dropped three crucial catches. Yet, we pulled through," conceded V.B. Chandrasekhar, the Super Kings team's director for cricketing operations.

The Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by six runs and the Royal Challengers by 13 runs after being in seemingly losing positions in both the games.

Currently, the Super Kings top the league standings with a tally of eight points, ahead of Rajasthan Royals who have six, also from four outings.

"We were targeting the first four games since we knew that Australians Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey and Kiwi Jacob Oram would be returning home for national duties. So, it was imperative that we got through these four matches with maximum points. To this end, I would say, we are pretty happy overall," said Chandrasekhar on arrival here from Bangalore this afternoon.

While the Aussies and Oram depart, the team has been reinforced by the arrival of South Africans, fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and all-rounder Albie Morkel, the two of whom along with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan would spearhead the Super Kings bowling attack.

"It was a really really tough game. The pitch was not suitable for big hitting, but thanks to Dhoni's efforts we managed to post a challenging total," Chandrasekhar recalled.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, later declared Player of the Match, cracked a brilliant 30-ball 65 and put on 96 runs for the fourth wicket with Hussey (47) to help Super Kings post 178.

The Challengers appeared well on way to achieving the target, but collapsed in a dramatic fashion.
"We had a stroke of luck last night and pulled through," Chandrasekhar pointed out.

Reflecting on the earlier games, Chandrasekhar opined that there was an element of luck in two of the four matches, but was happy that they achieved their primary goal of taking maximum points from the initial four outings.

"We are now looking ahead to the next set of four matches. At this moment though the players would like to take some rest after the late night yesterday and an early morning flight today. We will now have to regroup and plan for the future matches," he said.

The Super Kings are scheduled to host Delhi Daredevils Friday, May 2, before leaving for Jaipur to meet Rajasthan Royals, Sunday.