CSK need to bat well in middle overs: Du Plessis

Chennai Super Kings` opener Faf du Plessis said the defending champions need to bat well in the middle overs to produce better results in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Chennai: Chennai Super Kings` opener Faf du Plessis today said the defending champions need to bat well in the middle overs to produce better results in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s men suffered a batting collapse in their chase of 156 as they lost their IPL match against Kings XI Punjab by seven runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here today. "I think we lost a little bit in the middle there. The wicket being little slower today leaving it for the last over is going to be tough. We needed to hit over the run rate at that time. "My opinion is that in the middle, we should have gone a little bit harder. We gave a good start by scoring around nine runs an over which is decent. The first six over was good but in the seven to 13th over we could have pushed just a bit harder. We need to look at that," Du Plessis said after the match. Du Plessis said with the pitch being on the slower side, stroke-making was never easy. "The wicket was little bit different to the last match. It was little bit slower than what it normally is. It is very tough for the guys coming in at number past six seven with the run rate at seven runs an over and with the wicket being a touch slow," he said. Asked about the incident where R Ashwin had a heated argument with KXIP`s medium-pacer Praveen Kumar in the last over of the Chennai innings when the ball sent down by Azhar Mahmood went down leg to the keeper and the umpire did not signal it a wide. "I thought it will be a wide and I do not know the rule there. According to me, a ball going on the leg side is a wide and the ruling depends on where your feet go and things like that. But the umpires could give you an answer for this," he said. PTI