The victory run of Chennai Super Kings came to an end when Mumbai Indians defeated them quite convincingly at the Wankhede Stadium a day ago but they will be upbeat to change their fortunes once they meet the Kings XI Punjab at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The bowling department has done a great job in the 4 matches so far and they will look to do more of the same in tomorrow’s encounter against the Kings XI Punjab.
The MS Dhoni-led team is definitely the greatest ever IPL team but when it comes to matches against Mumbai Indians they have tasted defeat quite often. However, Kings XI Punjab is a rejuvenated unit as well after clinching victory from the jaws of defeat against the Delhi Capitals. It is expected to be an exciting contest as both teams have some exceptional players in their ranks.
Chennai Super Kings will hope to recover from their defeat against Mumbai Indians
The form of Shane Watson at the top of the order will worry the yellow brigade. He might be dropped from future games if he keeps failing consistently. With his repertoire being limited only to batting, Faf du Plessis might well be preferred in the next game. However given Watson’s experience and the way he has made comebacks in the past a great performance might just be around the corner.
Dwayne Bravo went for 28 runs in his final over against Mumbai Indians as Hardik Pandya went berserk in the final over. He kept smashing him out of the park at will which might dent his confidence a bit going forward. However, he is a champion bowler and he shouldn’t read much into that dreadful over.
Kings XI Punjab will be high on confidence after sensational come from behind victory
Kings XI Punjab has a strong base and the introduction of Sam Curran at the top of the order in place of Chris Gayle paid off. The left-hander though made only 20 runs but his match-winning stuff came with the ball as he bagged 4 wickets which included a hat-trick in the final over. It was Curran and Mohammad Shami who came back strongly in the final few overs to hand Punjab a magical come from behind victory.
The form of Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin will keep Punjab in a good space of mind which might help cross the league barrier in this edition. The skipper has bowled brilliantly and accounted for two good wickets in the previous encounter. The batting department has been bolstered by a stylish Mayank Agarwal whose confidence has rocketed sky high after making his India Test debut not long ago.
Date and Venue:
The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The stadium is also called Chepauk.
Pitch report:
The wicket in Chennai for the opening match of the tournament was pretty substandard. RCB were bowled out for just 70 runs and CSK had to fight hard to reach the target in the 18th over. We can expect to have a much better pitch as it is not a good advertisement for the game. However, the pitch will still remain on the slower side. In the last match, Chennai made 175 against the Rajasthan Royals which goes onto prove that runs can be scored here. It will be interesting to see how the pitch behaves tomorrow.
Weather Report:
The Conditions in Chennai is expected to be very hot. Temperature is expected to hover around 34-36 degrees which will be pretty challenging for foreign players. It has been a difficult task for players to play day games in Chennai. As it is a day match dew shouldn’t play a factor. Humidity will remain around 62 per cent.
Match Prediction
When the match is in Chennai you cannot help but go for the Chennai Super Kings given their dominant run in this stadium. Under MS Dhoni, CSK has made Chepauk their fortress. However, they haven’t played much here in the last few years. Punjab have a good team but I will definitely go with Chennai for tomorrow’s clash.