Chennai Super Kings will face Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : Abu Dhabi at 7.30 PM (IST)
Head to Head : Chennai has had wood over KKR by winning 14 out of 23 times they faced each other, while KKR beat CSK only 8 times, 1 ended in no result.
Stats that matter,
- Andre Russell is highest scorer for KKR against CSK, while Dhoni is highest scorer for CSK against KKR.
- Jadeja has picked 14 against KKR, while Narine equals the record with Jadeja by picking 14 wickets against CSK.
- Kolkata Knight Riders is the only team who hasn't dropped a single catch in this IPL so far.
- Dhoni hasn't hit a single boundary against Narine in the history of IPL.
- In last 4 occasions CSK has defeated KKR 3 times.
- KKR is standing at 4th while CSK is at 5th respectively.
Key players to watch out for,
CSK : Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo.
KKR : Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine.
Team News :
CSK players roared at KXIP the other night while we could hear all the CSK fans whistling over the social media, CSK back into the action, this is what they are known for over the years. Knight riders has won 2 out of 4 matches they played, while CSK has won 2 out of their 5. Chennai made a magnificent comeback in it's style by winning with 10 wickets against KXIP. At the other hand, Knight riders were few runs short from the victory against DC.
Watson and Faf have been fantastic over the years for CSK, albeit Watson isn't consistent but surely a match winner as Fleming mentions, Faf at the other hand has scored monumental 282 runs at an average of 94 and a strike rate of 150.00 (3 fifties and 2 not outs). The questions on opening pair wouldn't trouble CSK anymore now. However Jadeja played 5 matches and picked only 3 wickets for 172 runs in 19 overs at an average of 57.33 and economy of 9.55. Jadeja is a key player for CSK, he has been consistent performer for them but he has to get his rhythm back quickly and get his form back. Similarly there are much pondering at Kedar Jadhav he has scored 51 runs in 5 matches at an average of 17 and a poor strike rate 108.51. These players need to fix their faltering performances. Sam at the other end has 268.42 batting strike rate.
Dinesh Kartik had to take flak for promoting himself ahead of Eoin Morgan the other night. Twitter got flooded with tweets where fans were seen asking to sack Dinesh from the captaincy. They posses one of the best balanced teams. Dinesh Karthik himself scored only 37 runs in last 4 games at an average of 9.25 and a poor strike rate of 100, destructive Andre Russell has only managed to score 48 runs at an average of 16 however he has strike rate of 145.45, Andre and Karthik are the important players and they must deliver in order to win today's epic match. Eoin Morgan has amassed 136 runs at an average of 68 and a brilliant strike rate of 151.11. Andre has dominated CSK last year, however he has been exposed recently his strike rate against pacers who bowl 140+ short pitch deliveries becomes below 60 and even got out many times for the same. Considering that fact I believe we may see one change today in CSK's team, Hazlewood may come in place of Bravo, Andre has 250+ strike rate against Bravo.
Questions are.
- Who will bat at no 4 for KKR?
- Should Narine open the innings?
- Where should Dhoni bat?
- Where should Eoin Morgan Bat?
- Will CSK make any changes?
What I personally believe is that Hazlewood should be definitely played all matches, he is the best bowler and had a great form recently against England series. In case if CSK bats first, Dhoni should definitely play at 4, Sam should be promoted according to the situation. Same should apply to the KKR team, they should play Eoin Morgan at 4 and Kartik should adjust according to the situation. I think for the way Rahul Tripathi batted last match should be given a chance to open the innings.
Pitch report : This will be the same wicket where RR and MI clashed yesterday night. 168 was the average score, good pitch to bat on. The temperature suggest otherwise today, there will be so much humidity and considering that fact dew may come later on.
Predictions : I will go with KKR today.
Thank you for reading.
Happy birthday Dwayne Bravo
Rahul Sargam 🏏❤
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