Make or break for misfiring CSK top order

It's almost half past five on Thursday evening when the Chennai Super Kings players troop out of the dressing room at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi. It is an optional practice session, but the healthy turnout indicates the number of players keen on a final tune-up before the second Qualifier against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Dwayne Smith is already padded up and ready for a hit at the nets. Andy Bichel is using the sidearm against Smith and letting it rip. Stephen Fleming has joined them after completing his pre-match media address. He goes around the stumps and fires throw downs himself. Smith seems to be looking to play straight and keeping the ball along the ground. It isn't until much later that he plays lofted shots.

Smith has 325 runs from 14 games at a strike rate of 118.18 this season. Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina have scored 358 and 346 runs at 128.31 and 121.83. According to Fleming, the Super Kings top order, with the exception of Brendon McCullum who will not feature in this game, hasn't done enough and certainly not quickly enough.

"What we need is top four or five get the majority of runs and that's probably been the difference this year compared to other years. We are missing out on runs in the top," Fleming said. "Apart from Brendon McCullum, everyone else is well below than where they usually are. So we need our whole batting order to fire against Royal Challengers. I think the bowling as a whole has done pretty well.

"He (du Plessis) is not taking his time, but what he is doing is getting out at the wrong time. So that's not enabling our hitters to play at the right time. We are losing more wickets than we have ever lost in the IPL."

The numbers echo Fleming's argument. Super Kings' top-four batsmen, including McCullum, have contributed 1465 runs in 58 innings at a strike rate of 131. If McCullum's scores were to be excluded, the numbers drop to 1029 in 44 innings at a diminished strike rate of 122.77. Apart from McCullum, who has scored at a strike rate of 155.71, only Pawan Negi (162.90), among those who have played at least five innings, has scored faster.

Fleming cited the wickets in Chennai, which became slower as the season wore on especially during the middle stages of a match, as a reason for batsmen struggling to score quickly. "We have played on pitches in Chennai that have been difficult to score and so it's been hard to find any form. The guys have worked hard to get some fluency back in their game.

"They can take time but we are running out of it. But we have got a chance to rectify that, we got a really good top-order batting and the fact they have under-fired somewhat means that they are due to perform. And this game will be a big game."

In the death overs, Super Kings have done better chasing than when batting first. On the 11 occasions they have posted a score, Super Kings have made their runs at a rate of 8.8 from overs 15 to 20, losing 31 wickets. They have scored at a better clip (10.2) during the same period while chasing, losing seven batsmen.

This heightens the importance of MS Dhoni, who didn't train on Thursday, in the middle order. He has had a middling season where he has aggregated 328 runs at a strike rate of 124.71. There have been occasions where he has struggled to finish the innings in the rousing manner that has defined his batting over the years.

"We would like him to get more runs and he would like to get more runs. But that probably goes for the whole top order," Fleming said. "We just need our batting to produce and Dhoni is part of that. But hopefully the top four can do well and bring him at a time where he can let his hitting power loose with [Dwayne] Bravo, [Ravindra] Jadeja and Negi."

Fleming said he was merely looking to keep the batsmen confident enough to trust their instincts. "I am not saying the players bat through and be 50 not out. That's not our style. It's the match awareness: how the guys are getting out, what are they planning to play, what are they trying to do. If they play shots that aren't in their repertoire then we have got an issue, but if they get out trying do something that they have done well over the season then I am fine with that.

"You just got to make sure that execution is 5% better than what has been and that might mean a four or a six rather than getting out. I don't want a nervous batting line-up. I want a batting line-up that is looking forward to getting out there and posting a winning score."