Stephen Fleming feels dismissing Chris Gayle early will be key to defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore
Chennai Super Kings’ coach, Stephen Fleming, believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore are lucky to have a blistering batsman like Chris Gayle in their line-up and any team that would be facing RCB should dismiss him early on in order to stay in the game.
With 511 runs in nine games, the dazzling West Indian opener is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Chasing Chennai’s target of 129 in the epic encounter between Chennai and Bangalore on Sunday, May 22, 2011, Gayle smashed a thrilling unbeaten knock of 75 runs and led his side to an empathic eight-wicket victory single-handedly.
Considering Gayle as a phenomenal player in the ongoing season, Fleming admitted that the brutal batting from the Caribbean opener left his side with no chance to come back into the game.
“Without doubt, I haven''t seen a player to have that much of impact in a season yet. He's been phenomenal. It's RCB by luck to the injury to (Dirk) Nannes that he was available. Very fortunate that they've got him, and he's responded beautifully,” Fleming
said.
The Super Kings and the Challengers are due to meet again in the 1st Qualifier at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
The former Kiwi captain described that his team’s first challenge in the play-off will be picking up Gayle’s wicket as early as possible.
Giving a hint about making a special strategy to tackle his power-hitting, the coach added, “So, he is very much a key player and a lot of their wins feed off him. I guess the challenge now in the semifinals and the final, whoever plays them, is to get Chris
Gayle out early. If you get Chris Gayle out and you've got a few, you have a chance, getting him out will be priority number one.”
Meanwhile, Fleming’s compatriot and RCB skipper, Daniel Vettori, acknowledged that Gayle will be Bangalore’s key player in the crucial upcoming game against CSK.
Terming him as the best batsman in the tournament, the Kiwi off-spinner explained that Gayle was determined to get the orange cap before the start of the game, which he will eventually earn with his excellent batting.
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