Gill, Sudharsan's Batting Brilliance Derailed Our Strategies: Fleming, CSK Coach

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said the defending champions were undone by the high calibre batting effort of Gujarat Titans openers -- skipper Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan -- during their 35-run defeat in an IPL match here.

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said the defending champions were undone by the ''high calibre'' batting effort of Gujarat Titans' openers -- skipper Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan -- during their 35-run defeat in an IPL match here. Gill (104 off 55b) and Sudharsan (103 off 51b) notched up destructive centuries in an opening stand of 210 runs to propel GT to 231/3 and then restricted the defending champions to 196/8 to stay alive in the play-off race.

The win lifted GT from the bottom of the table to the eighth spot. They have 10 points from 12 games, while CSK remained fourth with 12 points.

''It was a good onslaught and the batting was of the highest calibre. Right from the first over they disrupted our plans. It wasn't till the latter stages we got some control,'' Fleming said at the post-match press conference on Friday night. ''We didn't execute as well as we could but the other part was the sublime batting from two very good players.'' The former New Zealand captain praised Sudharsan for his effort. ''In the final last year, he (Sudharsan) played beautifully, he got 96. I have watched him closely, he has got good connections around the Chennai area. He is a wonderful player and today he proved that.'' Fleming said CSK were put under immense pressure by the onslaught of GT openers, resulting in errors in bowling and fielding.

''We were a little bit handicapped by the absence of some players. The players who were playing today did really well in the last game, so the confidence was high.

''Sometimes you do all the right things but good batting can put you under pressure. It was some high calibre hitting, just the pressure of that onslaught made us a bit sloppy,'' he said.

''Fielding has been really good, you can't look at just one game. We were put under pressure today. Both bowling and fielding can often be on the backfoot under pressure. Today, we probably fell a little bit behind mentally.''

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