IPL 2022 | 'It's pretty hard fielding second at the moment,' says Stephen Fleming after CSK's second consecutive defeat

On Thursday, when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) put up a mammoth total of 210 after being invited by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to bat first, very few people thought that the defending champions would end up on the losing side in the end. But contrary to their beliefs, the Super Giants stunned CSK by chasing the target with three balls to spare, courtesy of a breath-taking half-century from Evin Lewis and a perfectly timed cameo from Ayush Badoni.

Chasing a target of 211, requires an exhibition of extraordinary hitting skills, which were certainly demonstrated by the Lucknow batters. But apart from that, the dew factor also aided some favour to LSG by making it incredibly tough for the CSK bowlers to control the wet ball in the second half. 

CSK head coach Stephen Fleming opined the same thing post-defeat last night. Although he praised CSK's batting unit for getting 210, Fleming admitted being aware of the fact that even a target of 211 would prove to be unsafe in the wet conditions. 

According to the ex-Kiwi skipper, the ball skidding off the surface made it difficult for the men-in-yellow to stay competitive in the game, despite the CSK bowlers trying their best for the same.  

"We did well to get to a score above 200. But we were always realistic. It was going to get harder as the night went on. So, we worked very hard to stay in the game. But, that said, it's pretty hard fielding second at the moment", Fleming said in the post-match press conference.

"At no stage did we feel comfortable and that showed in our fielding. In addition, the conditions were wet. So, the guys hung in there defensively, proud of the effort", he further added.  

Fleming said that the presence of dew took CSK's spinners out of the game as it was getting impossible to grip the wet ball and bowl in good channels. He also revealed that the decision to go with Shivam Dube to bowl the penultimate over was taken in the middle and appreciated the LSG batters for the way they dealt with the medium pacer.   

"If you looked earlier on, spinning options were taken out of play. It was very hard for one: to grip the ball for a spinner and two: to be effective", Fleming said. "Also, we were hoping to be able to create enough of a run rate towards the end so that we could squeeze someone in. So, the decision was made in the middle to use Dube, and they countered well", the CSK coach further added.  

On being asked whether CSK could have saved one more Over of Dwayne Bravo for the slog overs by giving Dube one over in the middle, the former New Zealand captain dismissed it by terming it a 'hypothetical situation' and insisted that he would like to back the decision-makers in the middle in this case.

"It's hypothetical. You go back and do 20-30 of these scenarios. I'm no one to dissect the game like that. Therefore, I'll back the decision-makers in the middle, who did the best job they could", the CSK coach concluded.  

CSK will play their third match of the competition against the Punjab Kings on Sunday.