Good start but still a long way to go: Sachin

Cape Town:

They might have made a resounding start to their IPL campaign with a convincing win over last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings but Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar is not ready to take things for granted and wants to build on the good start.

Tendulkar, who scored an unbeaten 59 to script his team's victory in the opening match of the second edition of the Twenty20 extravaganza, said, "The start is good but it is still a long way to go. I won't take anything for granted."

Tendulkar, who was adjudged Man of the Match, said the initial overs were difficult for batting and lavished praise on Sanath Jayasuriya and Abhishek Nayar for adjusting well.

"When I lost the toss, I realised there was a dampness in the wicket. The first 6-7 overs were difficult and later on Abhishek Nayar came and played a terrific innings and my job basically was to just be there and play till the end and guys on the other end played their strokes," he said.

On being asked what could be a decent total on the South African wickets, Tendulkar said anything around 150 would make a good fight.

"Looking at about 145-150 would be a decent total. Don't look at 180 plus but if you can get into 150-160 then it could be a good total," he said.

Chennai Super Kings captain Dhoni admitted that they were outsmarted by their rivals but said if they can work on their mistakes, they would surely pick up as the tournament progresses.

"I think we gave away few deliveries in the end and there batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar played brilliantly and then Abhishek down the order also played well. Also thanks to their bowling, Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) did really well so over all I think they played better cricket than us," Dhoni said.

"There are some areas where we have to work on and hopefully if we can work hard on that we will get better and better in the tournament.

"Last year also, initially there were some individuals performance but we struggled with the bowl but as the tournament progressed we got better, so hopefully if we can work on some of our areas we will pick up," he added.

Dhoni felt 180 odd would be good total in such conditions but said a lot depends on the bowlers.

"Initially the wicket was damp but with time it got better for batting, so I think 180 odd would be good score. You see when bowlers are bowling well then score like 150-160 becomes a good score," he said.