Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming found positives despite his team's third consecutive defeat, losing narrowly on this occasion to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai this Friday (October 2) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Bowling first, CSK had firm grip on the match until SRH's young batsmen Priyam Garg (51) and Abhishek Sharma (31) took the team out of those trouble waters and enabled a fighting total of 164/5 in 20 overs.
WATCH – “It's a question”, query over MS Dhoni’s batting position irks Stephen Fleming
In the chase, struggling at 42/4 in the ninth over, CSK found hope in a partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (50) and skipper MS Dhoni (47*), but they couldn't take their team past the finish line. The team managed to only reach as close as 157/5.
Fleming, even though at pain over his team's third loss in four outings, pointed out the gains, including the "encouraging" fact that Dhoni seems to be regaining his rhythm at the crease.
"Jadeja's innings was good, we were in trouble so it meant Dhoni and Jadeja had to take their time. They got us pretty close and Dhoni's momentum was pretty encouraging," the coach said at the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
However, there is still little doubt that CSK need more from their batsmen like Shane Watson, who failed once again at the top, in order to recover and progress in the tournament.
"You do not want to put yourself under pressure and we have got players who are looking for some form. Faf du Plessis is a player who is in form and Rayudu is coming back from an injury. We are a bit disjointed but we do need contributions from our top four batsmen if we want to win the tournament, we are still backing our players," said Fleming.
"Both Watson and (Kedar) Jadhav are looking for substantial contributions, Shane can light the fuse at any stage and Kedhar the same, it's just our fourth game so it's pretty early in our cycle of form but there is no doubt there is pressure and they will be feeling it more than what I am talking about," he added.
Dhoni's men will certainly rue their mistakes in the field, as they bowled no-balls, dropped two crucial catches of half-centurion Garg and showed poor discipline with the ball, when he along with Abhishek, were getting SRH back on track after they had once found themselves 69/4, with David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson, their best players back in the pavilion.
"We sat through the meeting, we discussed both Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg, there was footage available on them and a lot of planning was done for them. They both played really well, that''s youth for you, I think we got a bit sloppy from the 15th over onwards, I thought we could have bowled better at them but the bowling striking was very good," said Fleming.
"We just got a little bit loose with what we were trying to do, the last part, in particular, they were good and we were a bit patchy. We just have to get it right and have some game rhythm," he added.
CSK next face Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai on Sunday (October 4).
