After losing to Rajasthan Royals for the second time in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Thursday, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming admitted that the Sanju Samson-led side were great at home due to them getting a better start to the game.
Right from winning the toss to bat first, Rajasthan had everything going their way. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler gave a rapid start, scoring 62 runs in the Power-play, which set the base for them posting 202/5.
In reply, controlled bowling from Rajasthan meant Chennai could make only 42 in Power-play and ended up at 170/6, to lose by 32 runs.
“I thought it was a good game. Rajasthan Royals played really well. We don’t like to preconceive too many ideas about how the pitch will play. This pitch was a lot different in appearance than the last one, and it played well.”
“It started to get a bit slower towards the end. Rajasthan played a great home game and got out of the blocks very well. Jaiswal played great innings to create some momentum,” he said in the post-match press conference.
The result also meant Rajasthan are on top of the table while Chennai are at third place now. Fleming also felt Chennai’s bowlers conceding extra runs in the fag end also hurt them, apart from being kept on a tight leash in Power-play by Rajasthan’s bowling attack.
“We came back quite nicely in the game. We were a little bit unlucky in the last 3-4 overs, just with a few nicks, probably 16-20 runs more than what we thought. That’s just how the game goes. Those extra 20 runs made it quite tough.”
“We came up against a team that took the pace off the ball, so we couldn’t get any momentum in the first six overs. (Devon) Conway is in outstanding form as well but he couldn’t get underway, the rhythm of the innings was slow.”
“And then when we tried to catch up we made mistakes. This is just pressure, it’s just good bowling. We did well with (Shivam) Dube to create a little bit of forward momentum and gave ourselves a small chance, but it was just always a few overs too far,” he added.
Chennai’s next game in IPL 2023 will be at home against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
