Faf got chance to play after Billings’ injury: Fleming

Coach Stephen Fleming says Faf du Plessis, who singlehandedly guided Chennai Super Kings into the final of Indian Premier League’s 11th edition, was played in the first qualifier because of an injury to Sam Billings.

Coming back after a twoyear ban, two-time champions CSK last night pulled off a thrilling two-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad to make theie seventh final of the cash-rich league, with du Plessis’ unbeaten 67-run knock leading the chase.

“Sam got hurt in the last game. He fell awkwardly on his hip and it has been quite bruised. He probably could’ve played if he was pushed but he was uncomfortable.

“So we just took that opportunity to keep Faf in the side, having introduced him in the last game. We’ve got different combinations that we can use and I’m very happy that Faf was able to contribute the way he did,” said Fleming in his post-match media conference on Tuesday night.

Chasing a modest target of 140, CSK were down in the dumps at 92 for seven before Du Plessis (67 off 42 balls) engineered a stunning comeback.

The former New Zealand skipper said, “Sam’s injury made it pretty clear that Faf at 1 and Rayudu at 4 was the way to go.”

The Qualifier 1 against the table toppers was only the fifth game that du Plessis played this season.

The former New Zealand captain also heaped praise on young South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi, who returned figures of 1-20 and accounted for rival opener Shreevats Goswami.

Fleming described his team’s performance as just about good. “We were okay, Ngidi was great, Jadeja was very good but it was an okay performance. We have been better, so I guess that’s what we’ll look at over the next four days,” he said.