Despite a seven-wicket defeat against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni hailed debutant Matheesha Pathirana, who shone with the ball as he scalped two wickets in the match.
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Pathirana, who also comes from Sri Lanka, and is dubbed as `baby Lasith Malinga` starred for Chennai as he helped them to defend a small total against Gujarat Titans. Pathirana impressed the captain as he got Gujarat Titans` star opener, Shubman Gill, with the very first delivery of his spell. The 19-year-old, with his Malinga-like action, hit Gill`s pads in the 7th over of Gujarat`s chase. Gill was given out LBW.
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Talking about the debutant CSK skipper MS Dhoni said, "I think Pathirana is an excellent death bowler. A bit similar to Malinga. With his action, the margin of error for him is quite big. With a slingy action, he doesn't get a lot of bounce. He has got that slower one as well. We will try to give guys ample time in the middle. I feel it`s important to give guys who haven't got a chance to feature in the 11.
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"CSK posted 133 total with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad top-scoring with 53 runs. GT chased down the target with five balls to spare."To start off, batting first wasn't a really good idea.
The fast bowler's ball wasn't coming on. That`s why the batsmen found it tough to hit. In the second half, it got slightly better. Spinners I felt both halves it was pretty even. A bit more runs in the middle overs would have been good. Sai bowled really well. We could have pushed Shivam up the order but that defeats the purpose of giving Jaggi the extra game. We wanted Jaggi to spend some time in the middle," said Dhoni.
