Kolkata Knight Riders play a must-win game against the Chennai Super Kings in the 49th game of this IPL to be played in Dubai. Eoin Morgan led KKR desperately needs a win to have still a chance to qualify for the playoffs. MS Dhoni and his team can play spoilsport for KKR’s chance if they can get a consolation win. KKR beat CSK by 10 runs in the reverse fixture played between them in Abu Dhabi.
KKR lost their game last rather convincingly vs KXIP by 8 wickets after a poor outing batting first. They lost their plot completely losing 3 wickets in the powerplay, but the Gill-Morgan partnership threatened to take the game away from KXIP. A middle-order collapse meant KKR could reach only 149 despite a stroke-filled 57 from Gill. The bowlers couldn’t do much in Sharjah with jut 150 to defend.
CSK, at last, won a match against RCB by 8 wickets after a couple of heavy defeats on the trot. Though they don’t have any chance to qualify for the playoffs anymore, they still can spoil other team chances and play for pride. Their bowlers came to their own on a slow sluggish track and the batsman especially the youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad played well-showing intent and glimpses of his talent.
Key Players
Batsman – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis, Eoin Morgan, and Shubman Gill.
The new CSK openers Ruturaj and Faf will be once again in focus this game as they did well against the RCB. Chasing a tricky total on a slow pitch, they got off to a brisk start and the rest of the batsman continued with that momentum winning by 8 wickets. Eoin Morgan has been a consistent performer in this IPL but has not scored a 50 plus score as of yet. He has to play captain’s knock this game. Gill who finally came back to form will once again be the player to watch out for.
All Rounder- Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Sam Curran, and Mitchell Santner.
KKR will hope Narine with new bowling action picks up wickets and also contributes with the bat. He has already played a match-winning knock in his match. Pat Cummins has been backed extensively by the KKR management despite having picked only 6 wickets in this IPL, Though he has played some useful knocks with the bat, it’s his bowling effectiveness that is being missed. Sam Curran has been the shining light in CSK’s campaign and is the highest wicket for them. He has been brilliant with the bat as well and is a man for the future. Santner made his maiden appearance last game in the last and has done well. So he will continue to feature in the coming games as well.
Bowlers – Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar, and Imran Tahir.
Lockie Ferguson has been very impressive since making an appearance in this IPL taking 6 wickets from 4 games and KKR will want him to keep up his form which would help KKR’s chances. Varun Chakravarthy, with a fifer, is now the highest wicket-taker for KKR this season and he reciprocated his team management’s confidence in him. He was rewarded with a national team call up which will give him more confidence. Imran Tahir has gone wicketless in his last 2 games but has been economical and will most likely play in the rest of CSK’s games. Deepak Chahar is one of the few CSK players who has done consistently well this season will look to give early breakthroughs to the team.
Battles to look forward
- Imran Tahir vs Eoin Morgan
- Sam Curran vs Sunil Narine
- Varun Chakravarthy vs MS Dhoni
Eoin Morgan is a good player of spin generally but has not played that well against them this season and a world-class player like Tahir may trouble him to a large extent. Sunil Narine with the bat has been more dangerous than as a bowler in the last few games. He can take the game away while facing medium pace bowlers and spinners, it will be interesting to see if he could attack a smart bowler like Sam Curran. MS Dhoni got out against Varun the last time they faced off and KKR may bring into the attack if and when Dhoni comes.
Head to Head between KKR and CSK.
- Matches Played: 24
- CSK Won:14
- KKR won: 9
Significant Approaching Milestones.
54- Rahul Tripathi needs 54 more runs to cross 1000 IPL runs.
Match conditions
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
Date & Timings: October 29, 2020, at 7.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 30 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a slow batting surface with the possibility of due.
