Gaikwad grabbed his opportunity: Fleming

Riding on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 72-run knock and Ravindra Jadeja’s match-winning unbeaten 31-run innings, Super Kings chased down 173-run target with six wickets in hand.

Hyderabad: Chennai Super Kings are the first team to be out of the playoffs race in the ongoing Indian Premier League. However, they are very much capable of changing the equations for others and that was evident when they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders and dented their chances of playoffs.

Riding on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 72-run knock and Ravindra Jadeja’s match-winning unbeaten 31-run innings, Super Kings chased down 173-run target with six wickets in hand. Speaking after the victory, their coach Stephen Fleming lauded Gaikwad, who scored back-to-back half-centuries. “When you’re out of the competition, you’re not as nervous. You are surely disappointed to watch it all unfold but still very pleased to get the win,” Fleming said after the victory. He (Gaikwad) has done well in the last couple of games. We are happy that he has taken the opportunity. We look back at the missed opportunities when he got Covid.”

“He missed out the pre-season, he came back after about 4-5 weeks in isolation. We tried to get him involved but he was a long way from being ready. So we are just happy now to create the opportunity and he has shown us that he is the right player. He has got lovely timing, a very fluent player. It allows him to hit the ball in the gaps, a lot of power for a small guy,” he said.

The New Zealander also praised Jadeja. “He’s very free in his batting. He has tried to play too smart but he is now playing free. He trains very hard, he’s hitting a lot of balls and that’s paying off. His finishing in the middle to later parts of the tournament has been outstanding.”

Meanwhile, KKR coach David Hussey rued the missed opportunities that now left them hanging by the thread in the playoffs race. “Losing toss definitely didn’t help. With dew around, it became difficult. Having said that, we can’t take anything away from Chennai. They played beautifully. Every defeat is difficult. We put ourselves in this kind of situation by losing matches. We rest and recharge our batters ahead of the RR match and hope for some luck from other matches. We are still in the competition but only by a thread.”

On Dinesh Karthik’s role lower down the order, he added, “For the balance, we put him up to stabilise the middle order. But that hasn’t worked out. So we dropped him down the order and he showed his class. He finished off well striking with 200 every time.”

He said Nitish Rana, who scored 87 runs, has matured as a player. “He is immensely strong. He had a good consistent tournament. He has become a good player in the last few games. He is mentally strong, he went through some personal loss but playing beautifully,” concluded the Australian.

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