Chennai, Sep 27: With their eight-match unbeaten run at home coming to a halt against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings will hope for an improved show by their bowlers to stay alive in the tournament when they take on Cape Cobras in a Champions League Twenty20 match here tomorrow.
CSK's hopes of advancing to the semifinals hangs in balance after the defending champions failed to restrict a depleted Mumbai Indians in their opening match here last week.
Led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK were all set for a victory against MI before Lasith Malinga, in the company of stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh, stitched a vital 53-run partnership off just 28 balls to see the side home in the final over.
Subramaniam Badrinath yesterday defended his side's loss and reposed faith in the outfit to bounce back to winning ways against the Cobras.
“We have been in this situation before and we have got ourselves out of it, so it's not something that's new to us. I think we just have to play good cricket,” Badrinath said.
The batsman, however, stressed on the importance to bowl well in the final few overs when the ball is changed and it's again hard and new.
“It's important to bowl well in the last leg. That's when the new ball comes on well to the bat and if we can restrict them in the Powerplay overs, it would be tough to get our bowlers away after that, considering (the quality) of our attack,” he added.
Cape Cobras, meanwhile, are buoyed after the win over New South Wales Blues, and will be keen to extend their supremacy in group A with yet another victory.
The South African champions, though, were not really tested in their opening encounter, as they eased past the Australians with seven wickets in hand.
However, it will be a different ball game altogether when they take on the hosts. PTI
