Yesterday the Chennai Super Kings overcame Sunrisers Hyderabad in a close tussle in IPL 2020. After losing 5 matches out of their 7 league fixture CSK made some positive changes in their batting. They added a bit of firepower and sent Sam Curran as an opening batsman against SRH which proved to be a good decision.
The all-rounder Curran batted with freedom and played his natural game in the powerplay. He never intended to defend the ball and only focused on giving CSK a flying start. Curran gave his side the much needed early impetus and scored 31 from 21 balls.
Post the win against CSK coach Stephen Fleming talked about why Curran was trusted to open the innings. The successful CSK coach stated that the idea of sending Curran up front was to dominate the match from the get-go.
Sam Curran Opened To Provide Momentum – Stephen Fleming
There batting had so far in IPL 2020 lacked intent and they gave Sam Curran the license to take advantage of the fielding restrictions. Fleming also admitted that CSK wanted to something different in the match and not be one dimensional like their previous encounters.
“We have had Sam Curran padded up every time, looking to inject him into the innings but wickets have fallen. Rather than getting clogged up with probably too much batting resource, we thought we would be certain about Sam Curran, put him up in front and see how he goes. That was the main reason,” Stephen Fleming said in the post-match conference.
“It was born out of our need to do something different because the trends of our losses were getting too familiar. So we needed to get Sam in the game and provide a little bit of momentum at the front”, the CSK coach added.
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Meanwhile, CSK were victorious and registered their third win of the IPL season. The match, in the end, got close but CSK bowlers managed to hold their nerves and clinch the match by 20 runs. The 3-time IPL champions have now got the much needed winning momentum that they were striving for this season.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to see whether Sam Curran now opens in every CSK match throughout IPL 2020. MS Dhoni and his men will now take on Delhi Capitals on Saturday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
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