Chennai, April 26 Chennai Super Kings are having their worst IPL season as they suffered their seventh defeat in nine matches to stick to the bottom of the points table.
CSK lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in Chennai and suffered their fourth consecutive defeat at home. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming feels that the side needs to work hard on their remaining fixtures to get things right for the next season.
Invited to bat first, debutant Dewald Brevis and Ayush Mhatre scored 42 and 30 respectively to take the side to 154 before being bowled out with one ball remaining in the innings.
Harshal Patel returned with figures of 4-28 while Jaydev Unadkat and Pat Cummins clinched two scalps apiece.
"I'm a believer that the game hasn't evolved that much. So just trying to be smart and trying to be positive and give evidence that percentages still work. But all around there is a bit of chaos, isn't there, with teams playing well (by targeting boundaries and playing high-risk shots). And I think I said it in a grumpy interview a few weeks ago that we'll see towards the end of the tournament which team will come through," Fleming said.
"And it's an intriguing watch to see settled sides and teams with younger sort of flair battling it out and watching the cream rise. And I will watch with interest to see towards the end what the highest run-scorers are and what teams are doing well, because that's part of the reflection as you move forward."
"We've tried to bolt things on all the time. I thought Brevis was excellent today (making 42 off 25). Mhatre has been refreshing. We've given guys opportunities and that's something that often doesn't come along in an IPL. You don't want it to come along. It's an unwanted bonus. So we'll work very hard on every game to try and find some more answers for next year," he added.
Reflecting on their auction strategy, Fleming backed his squad to have enough arsenal to give a fight in the tournament.
"It is also not perfect science. The auction is a very fluid beast. It's like buying (for) 25 hours and see it come away at the end of it mentally and sometimes physically exhausted. And to be fair, I still think we have got a good squad. We are not far away," Fleming said.
"A couple of key injuries, just a bit of a lack of form. And we have just struggled really to nail a gameplan. We've chopped and changed too much. I think it was trying to look for something that perhaps we felt wasn't there. So yeah, there is a lot of responsibility and soul-searching and it certainly starts with me at the top, 100%."
CSK will next host Punjab Kings on April 30 while Sunrisers Hyderabad to take on Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 2.
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