Captain Rituraj Gaikwad said things are “slowly coming together”. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs on Tuesday, after the team recorded their second straight win.CSK, undergoing a turnaround, came into the match on the back of a 23-run win over Delhi Capitals and followed it up with another win to move up to the eighth spot in the points table.“Slowly, it’s starting to come together, I think,” Gaikwad told the broadcaster after the match.“Everybody knows what their role is, what overs and what length to bowl. I think they are adjusting and adapting very well to what the team needs.”“As I said, slowly, we are getting better and better and that is a good sign for us,” he said.Gaekwad said the team’s target was around 220, but the total of 192/5 turned out to be enough.“We defended a good score,” he said. I felt it was an even score, because the wicket changed drastically after the first seven or eight overs.“It started to spin a little bit, it started to stop a little bit. We were looking at 220, 210 first, but then, we thought anything around 190, 180 would be a good score and after that, we just had to get a good powerplay in the bowling,” Gaekwad added.Gaekwad, who has struggled for runs this season and has scored just 63 runs in five matches so far, said of his form, “Well, first of all, I think it’s good to be part of a winning team after a long time. I felt it was coming to my mind even when I was batting, but after the last match, I felt a bit calmer, I feel that whatever the team needs to do, I will do it for sure. That I need everything. Even mentally, I’m feeling really good, feeling positive, and just a big, big knock on the horizon, but as long as other people are covering for me, I’ll definitely do it when it’s needed.“The upset was caused by CSK’s win Noor Ahmedwhich returned figures of 3/21 and took crucial wickets in the chase. He said that managing the situation is important.“It was dewy, and it was humid, so (I was trying) to keep my fingers dry and that helped me a lot to get to the right spots,” he said.“I think the ball was not hitting the bat well and it was good to take advantage of that,” he said. I will continue to try to play a role for my team in the upcoming matches.KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane He said the bowlers did well to restrict CSK but the batsmen failed to increase the pace.“No real pace with the bat, at all. I thought we did really well with the ball, 190 on that wicket was really good, especially (when) in the powerplay they scored 70 odd runs,” Rahane said.“After that, it was an amazing performance by our bowling unit to get back to 190. I thought initially with our batting, we only got 36 or 37 runs in the powerplay.”Rahane said that the team needs to remain positive despite five losses.“It’s tough at the moment. Yeah, we’re not winning matches, it’s tough. What’s important for all of us as a group is to stay positive, keep our heads up, keep our chins up, just focus on the moment,” he said.“It’s all about being positive and keeping your head up,” Rahane said.Rahane also spoke about fast bowler Karthik Tyagi, who bowled at 148.2 kmph and dismissed Sanju Samson for 48 runs.“He is working really hard in the nets. He is bowling really good and great talent. The pace he is bowling at the moment is amazing. Game by game, he is improving his skills,” Rahane said.
