Lacking a bit of steam in the batting: Dhoni

Dubai : Slow starts have hurt Chennai Super Kings in both their defeats, skipper MS Dhoni said after CSK faced a second consecutive loss while chasing a target of 176 set by the Delhi Capitals.

CSK were restricted to 131/7 as they struggled to keep up with the required run rate. "We are lacking a bit of steam in the batting and that hurts," said Dhoni on Star Sports after the match. "The run rate keeps on mounting after such slow starts and adds pressure, we need to figure that out.

We need to come back with a clearer picture, looking at the combination." On Friday, openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay both only managed to score 23 runs in the first four overs. The run rate never climbed and CSK found themselves 95/3 at the start of the 15th over.

Dhoni said that the return of Ambati Rayudu, who was unfit for the match on Friday, would help with the team balance. "That will give us the room to experiment with an extra bowler perhaps. There are quite a few things we can think about. We are one batter extra to start off, so the players need to step up.

We need to get better with our lengths, lines and pace. I think the spinners have not come to the party yet. We are bowling good deliveries, but we are giving away the boundary deliveries bit too often," he said. This is the first time since 2010 that DC are starting their campaign with two consecutive wins.

"In the team meeting we decided that we are going to assess the batting conditions early and then play accordingly. The way the openers started gave us a lot of confidence and the finish was good too.

I am lucky to have KG and Nortje in the team. It's important to stick together as a team and we need to enjoy each other's success," said Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer.