We can't blame anyone but ourselves for this mess: Yuvraj

DURBAN: Chennai Super Kings gave a severe blow to Kings XI Punjab’s hopes of reaching the semifinals as they beat them by 24 runs in a low-scoring match of the DLF Indian Premier League tie at Kingsmead here on Wednesday. Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the 12 overs bowled by the off-spinners helped them win the match. “It was a fantastic effort to defend the small total. Ashwin was awesome. He was playing his first game and we kept shuffling him. Murali kept on the pressure and Raina, too, was brilliant,” he said.  “The 12 overs bowled by the spinners helped us win the match. Not to forget the good start given by Manpreet Goni and Thilan Tushara,” said Dhoni, adding that he wasn’t perturbed by his team’s batting collapse today. “Our batting has been good throughout. Today was one such day when we could not get it right. Maybe we were short of a batsman or two due to the absence of Matthew Hayden. But we can always improve.” Yuvraj Singh was dejected and said that the team had none but themselves to blame for the mess. “We were good in the field. Unfortunately we could capitalise. We had a decent start but we could not get decent partnerships. We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for this mess,” he said “After restricting them for 116, we should have achieved the target with ease. But we failed. When you are in good situation like this, you can’t let it go. But I am happy with the fact that despite so many absentees due to injuries and other commitments, the boys played with a lot of effort,” he said. Muttaih Muralitharan, who finished with astonishing figures (two for eight in four overs) for his man-of-the-match-award, said that he was happy to have done his job. “I am happy to have contributed to my team’s cause. It’s good to see myself among wickets. MS Dhoni gave me the ball early in the innings and I just tried to bowl my line and length,” he said.  “My job was to create pressure and I managed to do that. Spinners bowled very well and pressure killed them. Raina has done a good job for us in so many matches. I hope he keeps going,” he said.