Bangalore, May 17 (IANS) Two time IPL title-holder Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would not be taking their last league tie Saturday against hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) easy and would go all out to win for consistency, coach Stephen Fleming said Friday.
“We are not going to throw away this opportunity because consistency has been our key. If Rajasthan (Royals) wins (against Sunrisers Hyderabad late Friday), then we just need to win big against Bangalore (RCB) and confirm the first semi-final spot,” Fleming told reporters at a pre-match press conference here.
In a must win game, which is also their last league encounter, RCB has to beat CSK with a higher run-rate for a place in the semi-final of the Pepsi IPL-6 T20 tournament, as Sunrisers and Kings XI Punjab are also in the race for the same spot.
Of the 15 league matches RCB played so far, they won eight, including six at home and lost seven, including six in away games over the last one month, pushing themselves into a do-or-die situation.
RCB lost to CSK at Chennai April 13 on last ball, as its pacer R.P. Singh bowled a no-ball to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
“Whenever a team is desperate, they tend to play their best and RCB would be doing that as well. In Bangalore, there has been last over finishes and the proximity of the two cities means a pretty strong rivalry and that is not lost on us. It is going to be a tough game,” said Fleming, a former New Zealand skipper.
Admitting that a lot of planning goes into getting RCB’s danger man Chris Gayle out early, Fleming said his team had been lucky enough to get him out on a number of occasions in the previous tournaments.
“We just got to make sure we bowl in the right areas and hopefully it will be our day. He (Gayle) has been remarkably consistent, especially on this ground (Chinnaswamy stadium). We could have our work cut out for us if it is going to be a high-scoring game,” he said.
Beside Gayle, Super Kings are also wary of RCB captain Virat Kohli and hitter A.B. de Villiers as they have been in top form throughout the tournament at home and in away games.
“If we can get their top-order wickets early, then we can control the runs and the game. There are two or three bowlers we use. R. Ashwin has had some success against Gayle. (Chris) Morris got him out the first time up in the last game in Chennai (April 13).
“But Gayle can launch into any bowler, as he has been very smart in the opening overs, and then he starts his attack with bowlers three, four, five being targeted. So you got to be very smart as a bowling unit,” Fleming said.
Playing down the spot-fixing controversy that has gripped the tournament after three Rajasthan bowlers were arrested in Mumbai early Thursday, Fleming said as his team was at the end of the tournament, the focus was on being among those going into the finals.
“We are lucky we are closer to the end of the tournament and the focus is on being either one or two going into the finals. That will keep us on task. Distractions are in front of everybody and its (spot fixing) is on everybody’s mind. We just got to be disciplined and very smart about what we do,” he added.
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