Dhoni blames bowlers for loss to Kings XI

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sarcastic in his criticism of the Chennai Super Kings bowlers after they lost Qualifier 2 to Kings XI Punjab and were knocked out of the IPL, in Mumbai, on Friday.

- Scorecard

Punjab maintained their winning record against Chennai in this edition of the IPL by beating them by 24 runs.

- Photos from the match

"I had the belief in my bowling that they will let them score more than 200 runs. But we need to give them (Punjab) credit; they batted well," Dhoni said.

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Dhoni said Chennai definitely had a chance of winning the match after Suresh Raina's stunning knock of 87.

"It was something we could have achieved; the reason for that is the way Suresh batted."

"One of the facts is one of our retained players, Dwayne Bravo, we lost at the start itself; but we still made the play-offs. We did really well in the tournament," he added.

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Virender Sehwag, who tormented the Super Kings' bowlers and set up the Punjab side's victory with a 58-ball 122, said Sachin Tendukar advised him to spend more time at the crease.

"I was hitting the ball well throughout. I had a chat with Sachin Tendulkar. He said 'your hands are going well, just a matter of one innings; just stay there and put the conscious effort to stay till the 10-12th over, everything will be alright'," Sehwag said.

Asked about determination in his eyes to score, Sehwag replied, "I promised someone that there is one innings I have to play, maybe it will come in the play-offs.

Today is Ness Wadia's birthday. I told him I will give him the best birthday gift ever. And whenever I got out, my son kept telling me, 'Papa you are not scoring runs'. I told him, 'hold on, there is still time'."

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Punjab skipper George Bailey praised both Sehwag and Raina for their superb batting.

"What an innings from Viru (Sehwag)! Set the platform, backed up by (David) Miller at the end, almost overshadowed by Suresh's innings.

"We have seen two extraordinary innings tonight."

Kings XI Punjab coach, Sanjay Bangar, said, "To beat a team like CSK thrice in a season is an achievement for us; our team showed great character, especially after CSK scored 100 in six overs."