Chennai Super Kings host Kolkata Knight Riders. (Source: IPL)Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host inform Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday. The high voltage clash at Chepauk promises to be an exciting contest as the two teams are equally matched on all fronts. However, a batsman of Russell’s caliber may just prove to be the difference between the two sides. Both the teams have four wins each and will be eyeing victory to go at the top of the points table.
Team Talk-
MS Dhoni-led CSK beat Kings XI Punjab in their last outing at home. Spin will play a crucial role at MA Chidambaram stadium and CSK will be happy that the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, and Ravindra Jadeja have been in good form. KKR also have a potent attack with Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine, and Piyush Chawla. Hence, it will be fascinating to see which of the bowling units shines.
All eyes will be on the batting line-ups and how they go about neutralising the spin threat. Andre Russell was the match-winner in three KKR wins so how the Super Kings handle him will be watched with keen interest.
Another danger for CSK will be Sunil Narine who returned to form against Rajasthan with a blistering 47 of 24 balls.
MS Dhoni will also play a crucial role as he has made notable contributions towards the end of the innings. The home crowd will be hoping that their ‘Captain Cool’ will once again be leading from the front.
Pitch Report: The weather will be humid in Chennai but spin is expected to play a major role again in Chennai. There was a lot of dew during the previous night game at the venue and the team winning the toss will definitely opt to chase. In the last season, KKR had scored 202/6 which was chased down in 19.5 overs.
Teams-
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain & WK), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Rituraj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma, K M Asif, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan (wk), Scott Kuggeleign.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (Captain & WK), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, K C Cariappa, Yarra Prithviraj.
