Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Scorecard: A visibly upset MS Dhoni on Friday conceded that a below-par total of 154 wasn't "justifiable" on a Chepauk surface that didn't have any bogeys in it as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) almost crashed the five-time champions out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoff race.

SRH chased down the target in 18.4 overs and Dhoni said that it becomes very difficult when a lot of players don't perform at the same time.

"I think we kept losing wickets and in the first innings, the wicket was slightly better and 154 wasn't a justifiable score. It wasn't turning a lot, may be a little two-paced but nothing out of the ordinary," Dhoni said after the end of the match.

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He in fact felt that in the second innings, SRH batted on a slightly tackier surface. Despite getting assistance from the dew-laden surface, SRH made a heavy weather of the chase before finally knocking off the target in 18.4 overs.

"Yes, second innings there was a bit of help. Our spinners, the quality was there and they were bowling in the right areas, but we were 15-20 runs short."

He was all praise for top-scorer Dewald Brevis, the 21-year-old South African.

"I think he batted really well and we needed that in the middle order. When the spinners come in, you do it either by batsmanship or picking the right areas, but that's an area where we want to improve because middle overs are crucial."

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For Dhoni, the most frustrating thing is that there were too many loose ends. For CSK, their seventh defeat in nine games practically ends their hopes as they now need wins in the next five games and hope that the play-off cut-off remains at 14 for the fourth-placed team.

"In a tournament like this, if there are one or two areas to plug in the holes it's good, but when a majority of the players are not doing well you need to make changes. You can't just keep going. We are just not putting enough runs on the board," he was blunt in his assessment.