CSK aim to consolidate top position

Riding on consecutive power-packed performances from their batsmen in this year's edition of the Indian Premier League, Chennai super Kings will be up against Kolkata Knight Riders at the historic Eden Gardens on Thursday to consolidate their top position in the league table.

Chennai, who arrive after beating Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs in their last game have impressed with their overall performance this season after returning to the IPL following a two-year ban.

Presently, Dhoni's men sit at the top of the league table with 12 points in their kitty from six wins in eight games. They would like to produce another brilliant performance against KKR who are yet to settle into a comfortable pace in the tournament.

A Dinesh Karthik led KKR defeated Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in their last fixture. They are currently fourth in the league table with four wins in their last eight games.

The last time when CSK and KKR played against each other on 10th April in the only game CSK played in Chennai, English wicketkeeper Sam Billings stole the show with his quick half-century to take Super Kings home after KKR's Caribbean Andre Russell's power hitting in the slog overs to help his side post 200 runs.

In the return leg, KKR will try to take revenge for the loss but it won't come easy for the two time champions. Not after watching Mahendra Singh Dhoni's batting in the two games - against RCB and Delhi Daredevils - where he smashed quick half centuries to gain highlights.

Super Kings' main strength in this edition has been their batting unit that has clicked at the right time. Chennai's opener duo of Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu are amongst the top ten run getters of IPL, the latter is the running leader for the Orange cap after producing 370 runs from eight innings, while the Australian all rounder has a century under his belt.

In the middle order, MS Dhoni - who has managed to score 286 runs in eight games with three half centuries at an average of 71.50 - is getting good support from Dwayne Bravo and Sam Billings who have produced match winning innings in the first two ties.

However, the main concern lies with the batting form of Suresh Raina, who has failed to convert good starts into big score. Raina had shown signs of his return to form against Mumbai after hitting half century but was dismissed for one in the next game against Delhi Daredevils.

On the other hand, KKR's run in this tournament has been fairly inconsistent. The team has failed to perform as a unit, which has cost them a lot of crucial points.

Dinesh Karthik's side has the likes of Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, and Karthik himself to lead from the front but all of them have failed to play anchor innings in most of the games.

Also the management's decision of dropping U-19 World Cup hero Shubman Gill to seventh spot in the batting position is beyond understanding. 19 year old Gill, who usually comes at one down has not got enough chances to justify his worth so far. Gill has so far managed to score 3, 4, 14*, 37, 5* runs in five innings.

In the bowling department, U-19 world cup winner Shivam Mavi, and English Tom Curran are doing good with the ball but their lack of international experience gets reflected in their performances, especially at crunch situations.

KKR's strength, across all these years in IPL, has rested upon their spin-bowlers, and with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla they possess the ability to turn the tables in their favour at any point of the game.