Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said they have yet to get the balance right at the top of the order after they slipped to a third straight loss in the Indian Premier League while chasing after poor starts in the powerplay.
Chennai鈥檚 top order collapsed as they lost three wickets in the first six overs after Delhi Capitals had posted 183-6 on Saturday.
An unbeaten 84-run partnership between Vijay Shankar (69 off 54) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 off 26) for the sixth wicket was not enough to get the hosts over the line as Delhi won by 25 runs.
The defeat mirrored Chennai鈥檚 previous two matches, where they also scored less than eight runs per over in the powerplay.
Fleming told reporters that finding the balance was a 鈥渃onundrum.鈥�
鈥淭o get more solidity at the top we have to remove, obviously, an overseas player, so we鈥檙e grappling just with the combination that we need,鈥� Fleming said.
IPL rules allow only four overseas players in the playing 11.
Chennai openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway are both overseas players, while overseas bowlers Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana are among their top-three wicket-takers this season, leaving Fleming with a difficult choice.
Fleming also said Chennai had to improve during powerplays.
鈥淲e felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky,鈥� he said.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that鈥檚 the theory behind that and that鈥檚 what we鈥檒l possibly continue with.鈥�