'It's fair to say looking at the table now that this team may have run out of juice.'
After suffering defeat against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming admitted his side were 'thoroughly outplayed' by their opponents.
Rajasthan Royals defeated CSK by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Abu Dhabi on Monday. CSK are placed on the bottom of the points table with just six points from 10 games.
"We came close in a couple of games but today we were thoroughly outplayed," Fleming said during the post-match press conference.
Batting first, CSK posted a total of 125/5 in the allotted twenty overs. Ravindra Jadeja was the highest run-getter from the side as he scored unbeaten 35 runs.
Rajasthan Royals chased down the target of 126 with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare. Jos Buttler played a match-winning knock of 70* runs while skipper Steve Smith played an unbeaten inning of 26 runs.
Fleming said his said failed to get momentum as they kept losing wickets.
"We lost wickets and you have to be positive and create some pressure and a run rate but we lost wickets throughout and we struggled to get real momentum to put them under pressure. They bowled well," he said.
With four league-stage matches left, Chennai are bottom of the table and have very slim hopes of making the playoffs.
The team have been criticised for continuing with their aged players despite the poor run but that could change for the remainder of the tournament.
Chennai did not have an ideal pre-season when many people from their touring party tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arriving in the UAE, and experienced players like Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh withdrew due to personal reasons.
"It's fair to say looking at the table now that this team may have run out of juice," said Fleming, adding that the mood in the camp was "pretty down".
