Ruturaj Gaikwad blamed his spinners for Chennai Super Kings’ five-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their IPL match on Friday and said an off day from them hurt the team despite a strong total on the board.Chennai Super Kings posted 209 for 5 with Ayush Mhatre scoring 73 off 43 balls. But Punjab Kings chased down the target in 18.4 overs, led by skipper Shreyas Iyer who made 50.After the match, Gaikwad pointed to the performance of his spinners Noor Ahmad and Rahul Chahar as a key factor in the defeat. Chennai had seam options like Gurjapneet Singh and Jamie Overton as batting replacements but opted to bring in Chahar.“We felt three seamers going in and of course we have two good wrist spinners (Noor Ahmad and Rahul Chahar) in tandem, especially in the middle after the overs. We felt it would help,” Gaikwad said.“But I think, you know, less time off for both of them. So I think it cost us. Sometimes we executed really well. Sometimes we just didn’t execute at the right time,” he added.He said the team failed to create pressure in the middle overs.“There was a point where it (required run-rate) went to 11 and a couple of good overs would have taken it to 12-13. We just didn’t get the momentum in the middle (with the ball).”Gaikwad added that the batting had positives, with contributions from Mhatre and Shivam Dube, but said the bowling needed improvement.Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said that the start played by openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh played a big role in the chase.“The way we started today, it was an exceptional start for us. I feel the way they (Arya and Prabhsimran) batted was phenomenal and it will stabilize our rhythm,” Iyer said.“I’m glad everyone is getting to bat. It gives the team immense confidence. Whenever we’re in a pressure situation, people realize how to handle it. We’ve just decided in the dressing room that we’re going to play cricket to impress each other – it gives us a kind of clarity and basically challenges each other.”In the chase, Iyer’s 50 off 29 balls and his 59 with Nehal Wadhera helped them reach 210 for five. The target was 209.Punjab also got contributions from Priyansh Arya (39 off 11), Prabhsimran Singh (43 off 34) and Cooper Connolly (36 off 22).Iyer started slowly, scoring 8 off 9 balls as Connolly took over. After Connolly fell to Anshul Kamboj, Iyer took control and targeted the spinners. He reached his fifty in 26 balls but was later dismissed by Kamboj when he went for a wide delivery.Punjab completed the chase in 18.4 overs, handing Chennai their second straight defeat.
