Chennai Super Kings on Saturday beat the Mumbai Indians for the first time at home in 13 years to climb to second in the Indian Premier League points table.

Key to CSK’s victory was the superb death bowling of Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana who picked up three wickets in his four overs while giving away just 15 runs. Pathirana’s spell effectively halted MI’s scoring as the Mumbai side could only muster 139/8.

CSK comfortably secured the win with more than two overs left and with six wickets in hand to also boost their net run rate.

Speaking after CSK’s win, captain MS Dhoni lavished praise on player of the match Pathirana while also elaborating on how he feels the Sri Lankan pacer’s workload should be managed.

“People who don’t have very clean action, batsmen have a difficult time picking them,” Dhoni said.

“And in a format where you have to go after the bowler, it makes it very difficult. That is based on just the action part and not of the pace and the variations he bowls with. He has consistency that makes him really special,” he added.

Pathirana has played a solitary senior T20 international for Sri Lanka. He made his mark at the Under-19 World Cup in 2022. Dhoni said that Sri Lankan cricket has a asset in but he must be managed.

“What’s important is to keep an eye as to how much cricket he is playing,” the former Indian captain suggested.

“I personally feel he is not someone who should play a lot red-ball cricket, shouldn’t even get close to it. Even white-ball cricket, he should play ODIs as less as possible. Play only the ICC tournaments, because he’s not somebody who’ll change a lot. This is what he’ll do. So you can always use him at crucial times.

“But make sure he’s fit and available for all the ICC tournaments and he’ll be a great asset for Sri Lanka. Not to forget, he’s a really young boy. Last time when he came, he was very lean but has added muscle and is stronger. I feel he’ll serve for a long time in Sri Lankan cricket but he’ll have to keep an eye on how much he bowls,” he added.

With almost all teams having played at least 10 of their 14 matches so far (CSK have played 11, SRH have played 9), CSK’s win takes them to second with 13 points. Third-placed LSG have 11 points while four teams are locked on 10 points each. With seven teams still with a good chance of making it to the playoffs, CSK’s win on Saturday gives them a cushion, Dhoni said.

“It was a crucial game for a simple reason that if you see the middle part of the points table, it is stacked well,” Dhoni said. “In T20 what we have seen is you may play good cricket but you may have an off day because the opposition plays brilliant cricket. So you need to have that cushion. That’s why this win was important.”

“We can’t get comfortable with it because in the middle almost five six teams are around the same points and a few of them will be playing each other as the tournament progresses. That’s why I felt this game was very crucial and also the last few games the results haven’t gone in our favour. It’s good to be on the winning side,” Dhoni said.

CSK next play the Delhi Capitals at home on Wednesday while MI host the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.