IPL 2018, M:33 CSK vs KKR Match Preview

KKR will host CSK at Eden Gardens Kolkata

On song after making a superb comeback to the league, table toppers Chennai Super Kings would look to continue its winning momentum and spoil Kolkata Knight Riders’ homecoming in an IPL match, here tomorrow. Written off at the start with critics branding it’s dugout as an ‘old-age home’, CSK, on the field, never looked like a side which is making its comeback to the tournament after serving a two-year suspension.

With a vintage Mahendra Singh Dhoni in centre of the team’s batting might, CSK have started looking ominous and would look to make a firm grip of their lead atop the standings as the tournament heads to the business end. CSK are currently leading the eight-team table with 12 points from six wins out of eight games.

Both the teams are here on the back of two morale-boosting wins against Delhi Daredevils with KKR successfully chasing a modest 176 in Delhi, while CSK reigning supreme at their adopted home in Pune.

Half-centuries from Shane Watson and Dhoni blasted CSK to its third 200-plus score and then young fast bowlers Lungi Ngidi and KM Asif choked Delhi’s chase to hand CSK its sixth win of the season. Dhoni himself is in the middle of the CSK’s success with his batting and captaincy instincts. Dhoni made four changes against Delhi and it showed the team’s depth.

Both teams have great match finishers which will provide great match for the cricket fans

Ngidi looked reliable and penetrative both in power play and at the death as the South African brought some venom into the pace department in absence of injured Deepak Chahar. A product of the MRF Pace Foundation, Asif impressed with his raw pace and quick arm action and took two wickets on debut, though the young Kerala pacer leaked 43 runs in three overs.

Then there is vintage Dhoni himself. Dhoni averages 71.50 with three half-centuries. His knock of 70 not out from 34 balls to hunt down RCB’s 205 still remains the talk of the town. The way he sealed the game with his signature swing over wide long on boundary brought back memories of the 2011 World Cup triumph.

With a handsome 12-7 win-loss record, the Dhoni-led side will also give some more headache to KKR. In the mid-table with six matches to go, KKR cannot afford to lose at Eden Gardens, where they play three more, in its bid for to secure a maiden playoff berth under Dinesh Karthik.

KKR’s campaign, so far, has been hugely dependent on the overseas trio of Chris Lynn, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Lynn was the architect of KKR’s six-wicket win in Bangalore with a restrained knock of 62 not out from 52 balls after he got a reprieve on seven.

KKR would hope for a strong batting show, especially from Robin Uthappa who is in the middle of a lean patch and is yet to score a half-century. KKR also seemed to have under-utilised youngster Shubman Gill by sending him lower down the order. Batting at no. 7, the Under-19 World Cup star has scores of 3, 6, 14 not out, 37, 5 not out in what seems to be sheer waste of talent.

Having failed to defend a handsome 203 in the first leg, KKR bowlers will look for a better show this time.

Probably Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders

1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 5 Nitesh Rana/Ishank Jaggi, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shubman Gill, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Shivam Mavi, 11 Tom Curran/Mitchell Johnson

Chennai Super Kings 

1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Last Meetings

It is the match that will be remembered as the one that pushed fans to troll India seamer Vinay Kumar, following the penultimate-ball six by Dwayne Bravo that helped Super Kings chase down a target of 203. That game also happened to be the last match played in Chennai, after which Super Kings' home base was switched to Pune.

Teams Strategy

Best chance for Sunil Narine to regain his impact with the ball. Narine picked up seven wickets in the first four matches, but then could manage just the one wicket in the next four games during which he conceded at a rate of 10.3 with an average of 144. However his numbers against the specialist batsmen in Super Kings are healthy and home conditions are likely to favour Narine.

Important Stats

This IPL, Chris Lynn has been defensive against left-arm spinners: in four innings so far, out of 27 deliveries he has faced against them, he has got 25 runs at a strike rate of 92.6 with a dot ball percentage of 44.4, and has been out twice

Andre Russell can overpower all kinds of bowling. Of particular note in that list is Russell's Caribbean team-mate Dwayne Bravo. Russell has 216 runs off 102 balls he has faced from Bravo, a strike rate of 211.8 in 17 innings

Sunil Narine has had the better of Shane Watson, Super Kings' gun batsman. In 13 T20 innings he has bowled against the Australian, Narine has got Watson six times

Robin Uthappa needs 23 runs to register 4000 runs in the IPL. Uthappa also needs nine runs to register 1000 runs at Eden Gardens in the IPL

Piyush Chawla needs two wickets to register 50 wickets for KKR in the IPL. He will become the first player in IPL history to pick up 50-plus wickets for multiple teams. Chawla previously took 84 wickets for Kings XI Punjab