Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming expressed disappointment over his team’s fielding effort after their 18-run defeat against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2025 match in Mullanpur on Tuesday (April 8).
Riding on Priyansh Arya’s whirlwind century (103 off 42) and key contributions from Shashank Singh (52* off 36) and Marco Jansen (34* off 19), PBKS racked up a mammoth 219/6 on the board.
In reply, CSK could manage 201/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Rachin Ravindra and MS Dhoni batted well during the chase but failed to take the five-time champions over the line.
After the game, Fleming attributed his team’s loss to poor execution in the field. The visitors gave two lifelines to PBKS opener Arya, the first on the second ball of the game as he went on to slam the second-fastest century by an Indian in IPL history.
Khaleel Ahmed was guilty of dropping a catch in the very first over, while Mukesh Choudhary spilled it in the 12th over when Arya was batting on 73.
The story of missed chances just didn't end there for CSK as Ravindra dropped a sitter in the 17th over to give reprieve to Shashank.
"The game was really lost in the field. I thought we were sloppy in the field and that we just lacked accuracy under pressure at certain times. We were put under pressure by a fine innings [from Arya], but we've got to be better than that in terms of shutting it down. So that's where the game got away from us," Fleming said in the post-match presser.
"We're 18 runs short in a big run chase, so we can look at three sixes here and there. It's been a frustrating season so far. The catching has been poor, but it was poor from both sides tonight. Whether it was something in the light, I'm not sure, but certainly for us, that was an area of concern," he added.
For the first time in CSK's five games, their opening pair managed to see off the powerplay in pursuit of Punjab's daunting 220-run target. The Kiwi southpaws Conway and Ravindra were steamrolling past Punjab's bowling unit and raised 61 in 6.3 overs.
After a successful powerplay, Chennai tottered in the middle overs, losing Ravindra (36 off 23) and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) cheaply. As the asking rate jumped to 17 in the last four overs, Conway was retired out on 69 (49 balls) to make way for Ravindra Jadeja.
Dhoni hammered a quick-fire 27 from 12 deliveries, including three towering maximums, but holed it to Yuzvendra Chahal on the first ball of the final over as CSK fell 18 runs short of the target.
"The positives are we batted a bit better. We've had some substance from the top order, which was a bit lacking, so we were able to then construct the chase. We just weren't able to keep the run rate at a good level through the middle, and it was just too much towards the end. But we've been in the game for a lot longer, which is a positive aspect," he remarked.
(With ANI Inputs)
