Dhoni rues upset defeat, but confident of semis berth

Chennai, May 22 (UNI) Chennai Super Kings skipper M S Dhoni today said he would like to see his team make it to the semifinals in the May 24 match against table leaders Rajasthan Royals.

One of the strong favourites for the first IPL T20 title, Chennai Super Kings have placed themselves in a piquant situation, going down to underdogs Bangalore Royal Challengers from a winning position last night.

The Super Kings would now find their task of forcing a semifinal berth difficult. They could go through to the last four stage only if Delhi Daredevils lose all their remaining games. The net run rate would come into play if Team Delhi and Team Mumbai win their remaining games and Chennai Super Kings do not win their games against Team Rajasthan and Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad. And if Delhi win both their matches, Chennai must win one of their two matches.

''We don't want to wait till the last match against Deccan. We are keen to make it to the semifinal grade against Rajasthan itself,'' Dhoni said in a post-match press conference last night.

Dhoni attributed the team's upset defeat against Bangalore Royal Challengers to ''bad shot selection'' from his batsmen. Dhoni, who promoted himself to number three after the Super Kings were well on the road to a win losing just a wicket, fell trying to hit himself out of trouble.

''One or two stands could have got us through to a win,'' he observed.

Dhoni lamented that no other player took up the responsibility.

''A couple of bad shot selections affected us. It was an achievable target,'' he said.

He said he had changed the batting order as the situation warranted it. ''Most of them floated around. If the players had thought out there in the middle as much as they thought in the dressing room, we would have won,'' he rued.

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