In terms of the wetness of the outfield, CSK coach Stephen Fleming compared the circumstances at the Brabourne Stadium to Niagra Falls after their second consecutive loss in the Indian Premier League 2022 season.
On Thursday, defending champions CSK were defeated by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who won by six wickets after chasing down a score of 210 with three balls to spare. Evin Lewis of the West Indies stormed to the fastest half-century in IPL 2022, scoring an unbeaten 55 off just 23 deliveries to lead LSG to win.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming expressed his displeasure in the post-match press conference, noting that the dew had made it difficult to bowl second.
“If you had looked sooner, you would have noticed that spinning alternatives were no longer available. Because the dampness was comparable to Niagara Falls, and they performed admirably. As a result, it was extremely difficult to both grip the ball and be efficient as a spinner said CSK coach Stephen Fleming.
“We were one over early on, but they played well.” We always knew we’d have to pick up an over somewhere, and we were trying to build up enough of a run rate near the finish to get someone in,” Fleming explained.
“Whether it was another spinner or not, the choice to employ (Shivam) Dube was made in the middle, and they counted it effectively. So we always knew that one over would be crucial, and I believe they did as well, but they handled it admirably.”
CSK had no choice but to bowl cautiously, according to the former New Zealand cricketer and now the CSK coach Stephen Felming, because the conditions were so difficult.
“We’ve got some young players: Mukesh (Choudhary) is playing for the first time, and (Tushar) Deshpande has played before. However, I thought it was quite sincere. It’s quite difficult out there; you don’t realise how wet the ball is or how wet the outfield is. So it’s difficult to get any aggressive play, and I believe we bowled defensively from the 10th over onwards. They stuck in there and got off to a great start under difficult conditions, in my opinion.”
The conditions in Maharashtra, according to CSK coach Stephen Fleming, favour the team batting second.
“We believed it was around par, and that’s the nature of the situation right now: the team batting second is heavily favoured. We performed great to reach 210, but we knew it was just going to become harder as the night progressed. To be honest, we tried extremely hard to stay in the game. In terms of defence, I thought we were fantastic. We just knuckled down after approximately 10 overs, and I thought we did a terrific job of staying in the game. However, it’s difficult to find a second baseman right now.”
