Fleming also endorsed Dhoni's tactics with his bowlers, opening with R Ashwin and giving him and Ashish Nehra three straight overs each.
A little over a month ago, Chennai Super Kings demolished Mumbai Indians at the very venue, the Wankhede Stadium, chasing down a target of 184 in just the 17th over. But on Tuesday, in the IPL Qualifier-1 playoff, a target of four more than the previous looked a mountain to climb.
In that successful run-chase a month ago, CSK had Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith who both gave a blazing start and Suresh Raina at No. 3 to carry on the momentum. But on Tuesday, while CSK were without McCullum, who is away on Test duty in England, Smith was done in by a horrendous LBW decision by umpire Richard Illingworth for zero while Raina, who batted at No. 4 and was finding touch before giving a simple return catch to Harbhajan Singh. Faf du Plessis, who batted at No. 3, was the lone batsman to make a noteworthy contribution.
Head coach Stephen Fleming admitted it was a tough loss. "Yes, was a tough game and Mumbai are very difficult at home and we had already identified that. They played pretty well and they are a team who have worked hard. I thought we created opportunities which didn’t go our way. We had to get early wickets but they had very good opening partnership," Fleming said.
Fleming said that his team did well to contain MI to 187. "It was total that could have been chased. We were going until the two balls from Harbhajan Singh changed the match completely. It’s very difficult if you lose two big wickets close to each other. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni are huge players and their dismissals were a big turning point," he said.
Fleming endorsed Dhoni's tactics with his bowlers, opening with R Ashwin and giving him and Ashish Nehra three straight overs each.
"I think it was ok. An ounce of luck and we could have got a couple of wickets in the opening six overs. That would have changed the complexion of the game. They’ve got some big-hitters, Kieron Pollard obviously can clear the ropes with ease," Fleming said when asked if he was pleased with the way Dhoni operated his bowlers.
On the idea behind sending the South African Faf du Plessis at No. 3 ahead of Raina, Fleming said: "It’s been something through this series that we wanted someone to play an innings of substance. Raina has been playing well with Dhoni in the middle order. Also Faf’s ability to improvise in the first six overs is good and that’s something that worked well for us in the last game. It was a continuation of it."
Chennai Super Kings, as a result of their 25-run loss, travel to Ranchi to play Qualifier-2 on Friday. There, they take on the winner of Wednesday's Eliminator between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals to earn the right to face Mumbai Indians in Sunday's final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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