Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, acknowledged his underperformance at the top of the batting order after his team suffered a defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. He took full responsibility for the loss, suggesting that had he performed better, the outcome might have been different. “I feel the loss is on me today. We had control of the match until around the 13th or 14th over, but we lost momentum from that point on,” he remarked during the post-match presentation.

This match marked Chennai’s third defeat of the season, with previous losses to the Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. Among the team’s notable players, only Sarfaraz Khan made a significant contribution, scoring 50 runs. In contrast, other key players struggled, with Gaikwad and Sanju Samson posting scores of 9 and 7, respectively.

Ayush Mhatre managed just 1 run, while Kartik Sharma and Shivam Dube contributed 6 and 18 runs, respectively. In the later stages of the innings, Prashant Veer (43) and Jamie Overton (37) attempted to stabilize the innings, helping CSK surpass the 200-run mark, but they too fell at critical junctures.

On the other hand, Tim David of RCB was in exceptional form, smashing a remarkable 70 runs off just 25 balls. He credited his impressive performance to the guidance provided by the team’s batting coach, Dinesh Karthik, which helped him adapt to the match conditions. David, who was lauded by his captain Rajat Patidar as the “best finisher” he has ever seen, hit eight sixes and three fours, contributing to RCB’s total of 250 runs for 3 wickets, while bowling out CSK for 207.