Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming stated that their bowlers failing to take wickets was the reason they lost their IPL 2024 match against the Lucknow Super Giants on Friday.
"It's a good win for the home team they played really well. It was a tough game. We certainly struggled to get any momentum throughout the game, both with the batting innings. We do well to get to late 170s with some good hitting," he said in the post-match interview.
"And then we just said no penetration with the ball. And to win that match, we would have had to have done similar to what they did, which is take wickets throughout. But the opening stand was a match winning one. And we couldn't create pressure because they got used to the pace of the pitch and if we got wickets throughout, I think we would have been able to place a bit more pressure on the order," Fleming added.
Matt Henry, who played his first game for LSG, felt that the key thing for their side on the night was the 'ability to take wickets.'
"So obviously it was a little bit on the slow side. So I think that the way that the guys adapted to the surface, we did a really good job. And I think the key thing for us was ability to take wickets. And I thought KP [Krunal Pandya] and the spinners and, even the boys up top to be able to continue to take wickets and keep bowling to fresh batsmen made a massive difference for us,' he stated.
The Super Giants beat the Super Kings by 8 wickets in a tightly contested match that was ultimately determined by the opening partnership of Lucknow Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul scoring 136 between them.
Lucknow reached 180/2 in 19 overs after CSK scored 176/6 in the first innings.
Chennai remain third whilst Lucknow move up to fifth and join a cluster of four teams all on eight points.