Fleming full of praise for Butlter

Losing team Chennai Super Kings' head coach Stephen Fleming has praised Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler for his match-winning unbeaten knock, saying the English batsman was a class apart during their IPL game here.

Buttler's superb 60-ball 95 not out guided Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling 4-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL match on Friday.

"We had a lot of plans for him (Buttler), left arm spin was one of them we were looking at but they did not work. Butler was a class apart on a difficult track. He batted through the innings. Had we got him earlier the result could have been different," Fleming said after his side lost by four wickets.

Fleming said the team plan was to get Buttler and Ben Stokes out early but only one part was successful.

"We got (Ben) Stokes early but could not get Buttler who settled down nicely and got the momentum in the first six overs. It was a great game of cricket which went to the wire. We could have done better but we were simply not good enough to capitalise on the chances we had," he said at the post-match press conference.

"The game was pretty even after the powerplay when we got two wickets. We were hoping that the pitch will get slow and then our slow bowlers would get some purchase. But we realized that back of the length the medium pacers were getting more success. We began playing for condition of the pitch rather than the plans for Buttler," said the New Zealander.

Asked about the performance of his bowlers, Fleming said, "Yes, it could have been better, they could have been more accurate.

"It was a difficult wicket and we were happy with the total we had and I feel it was par."

Rajasthan Royals medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat conceded that except Buttler the rest of the batsmen were not up to the task.

"That’s true, I think Jos (Buttler) has been taking the innings forward on his own in the last four innings and it is time for someone to step up in middle order. It is high time that someone else takes responsibility.

"They (other batsmen) were getting starts and played well in the middle and hit a few sixes, otherwise Jos could not have pulled it off alone. But more contribution in the middle would be welcome and we need more of them at this time of tournament," said Unadkat.