Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was proud of his team as it went down fighting against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday night at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
An MS Dhoni special, 79 not out off 44, kept CSK in the game before KXIP secured a four-run victory in the 12th game of IPL 2018.
According to Fleming though, it was KXIP opener Chris Gayle‘s knock of 63 off 33, including seven fours and six sixes that proved to be the difference.
“We were hit hard by Gayle. He played really well. We thought we might be able to pick him up with him being a little bit rusty. We did incredibly well to restrict the score to somewhere under 200,” Fleming said.
“The second half of our bowling during the innings was very good. We were able to get some wickets and create pressure. A score of 196 is still very high, but it’s a lot lower than what it could have been. I’m proud of the effort.
Start off the day with this gem of an innings from #Thala! #WhistlePodu https://t.co/XSPrOzLkXy
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 16, 2018
“During the chase, we just hung in and as good as Gayle was at the start of their innings, Dhoni was good at the back end of ours. We were only one hit away from stealing another win. A great game of cricket, that ebbed and flowed, and two really good batting performances from two senior players.”
The CSK skipper put in a show for the fans and almost took his team over the line, despite batting with a stiff back and depositing balls into the stands whenever pitched in his range.
“When you’re chasing, you get certainty in an uncertain game. So you can manage your risk, like you saw MS (Dhoni) managing his almost to perfection. It was a couple of good yorkers from Mohit Sharma that denied us a win,” the former Kiwi captain said.
What a knock! His highest score in the #VIVOIPL. Namma #Thala Dhoni ku periya Whistle adinga! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #KXIPvCSK pic.twitter.com/Q4ivMhJ6UF
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 15, 2018
