Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad believes dropped catches cost his team in their 50-run thrashing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

It was Chennai's worst defeat by a runs margin at home in the Indian Premier League, while it also marked the first time they have lost to RCB on home soil since 2008, ending an eight-match winning streak against them.

Despite Noor Ahmad's strong bowling – he took 3-36 – Chennai struggled in the field, with Rajat Patidar the main beneficiary as he escaped three close calls before reaching his half-century.

"Definitely a different scenario when you have three world-class spinners in your team," Gaikwad said.

"You want a new batter to face them. That's where I think the game changes a lot as well. Even the last game changed a lot, and it just didn't really happen this time.

"They just kept going, we dropped catches at crucial times, and there was always an extra six or extra boundary that was coming after that. So just think the momentum kept going, and it didn't really stop till the last over."

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Chennai also struggled to put up a fight in the chase, with Rahul Tripathi and Gaikwad, who went out for a four-ball duck, both dismissed early.

Rachin Ravindra was the highest scorer on 41, with only Ravindra Jadeja (25) and MS Dhoni (30*) hitting more than 20 in their dismal chase.

Gaikwad believes some of their problems stemmed from their need to overturn the large deficit, leading them to take more risks.

"We know Rahul backs his shots, and I went and backed my shots as well," he added. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

"To be honest, I still feel 170 was a par score on this wicket. There are times when you have par score in your mind, and probably when you're chasing 20 runs extra, you always want to be a step ahead of the game while you're chasing.

"That's what the thinking was. Didn't really work out, but still happy that we didn't lose by a big margin and, at the end, it was just 50 runs."