The two sides experienced contrasting fortunes in their respective tournament opener. While Chennai suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC), Punjab edged out Rajasthan Royals (RR) by four runs in a thriller. In the team’s first game, the CSK pace bowlers, barring Dwayne Bravo, were taken to the cleaners on a batting-friendly surface. 

The likes of Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Sam Curran were expensive, courtesy of a fantastic partnership by Delhi openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. And so, the fast-bowling quartet will be eager to produce a good show against PBKS, which is blessed with plenty of big hitters in its batting order. 

The Super Kings unit, also comprising spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali, is likely to find it tough while bowling to KL Rahul and Co. Rahul, Chris Gayle and Deepak Hooda starred with the bat to help Punjab post a mammoth total against Rajasthan. 

The trio, along with opener Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran, would hope to make full use of the Wankhede pitch again. The PBKS bowlers, save left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, leaked runs last time around. Hence, it would be itching to get things right against Chennai, whose middle-order has plenty of experience. 

Despite the failure of openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina and Moeen Ali shifted the tide in CSK’s favour in the Delhi match. Ambati Rayudu and skipper MS Dhoni did not have the best of outings, but Super Kings ended up making close to 190 runs. So, the batters will look to click in unison and help the side get the first points on the board.