Both the Chennai Super Kings & Kings XI Punjab are coming into this game on the back of a string of losses that have hurt them badly. They are in dire need of a wicket. MS Dhoni didn’t look comfortable in the chase against due to humid conditions and was unable to get his team over the line. KL Rahul after his incredible 132 for some reason has not cashed upon that form and is a little slow to start that slightly hurt the team to an extent in Sharjah vs RR.
CSK is placed at the bottom of the league table losing 3 out of the 4 games which is a rare sight to see. Their bowling seemed to find a rhythm but couldn’t control the flow of runs in end overs against inexperienced SRH batsmen after starting brightly. Even after a couple of changes and return of Rayudu, their top order isn’t the best. Watson, Jadhav looks out of sorts while Faf and Rayudu had a bad outing. CSK left too much at the end in chasing not so big 164 runs losing by seven runs.
KXIP were utterly outplayed by MI and were thrashed by 48 runs. They first allowed Mumbai to post a massive score of 191 due to some tactical decisions after bossing the game for the first 10-15 overs. They will rue the fact they gave away so many runs in the final few overs. After the departure of openers Rahul and Agrawal, KXIP were never in the chase with only Pooran contributing.
Key players from both sides:
Batsman – Faf Du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul, and Mayank Agarwal.
With the top order not firing, the onus is on the likes Faf Du Plessis and Rayudu to get the CSK innings going. Only the duo along with MS Dhoni in the top 5 has made a significant contribution to the team in 4 games. The lack of which resulted in them losing 3 games on the trot and look in disarray. Similar problems are prevailing in the KXIP camp as well, barring their openers no one has made runs. Only Nicholas Pooran has made substantial Innings apart from the duo.
All Rounder- Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Glenn Maxwell, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ravindra Jadeja played a fine hand of 50 with bat albeit in a losing cause, but this may give him confidence with the ball as well in the coming games. Sam Curran was expensive with the ball against, and his one over where he gave away 22 runs was in the end difference between the sides. But the youngster has looked good apart from this lousy outing. This might be a make or break match for Glenn Maxwell, especially with the likes of Gayle sitting on the bench. Dwayne Bravo may also be a player to watch out for in this game after his decent showing in his return match.
Bowlers – Deepak Chahar, Mujeeb, Mohammad Shami, and Shardul Thakur.
Mujeeb may make his first appearance this year with the bowling not up to the mark and could come in at the expense of Neesham who went for many in the last game. While Shami has picked wickets and largely economical, he is not the same bowler at the death, but still, he is a critical bowler for them. Thakur and Chahar had a great outing in the last game vs SRH and will look to bowl well against a struggling KXIP batting unit.
Battles to look forward
- Deepak Chahar vs KL Rahul
- Faf Du Plessis vs Mujeeb
- Piyush Chawla vs Glenn Maxwell
KL Rahul always looks pleasing to the eye when he bats and Chahar who seems to have found his touch in the last game may trouble the KXIP skipper with his movements in the air. If Mujeeb plays, he will surely a problematic customer to score runs off, and he usually bowls at the powerplays. So it will be interesting to see how Faf and Rayudu negate his threat. Glenn Maxwell has looked ordinary, and he struggled against Rahul Chahar so that Piyush Chawla might fancy his chances in the long boundaries of Dubai.
Head to Head between KXIP and CSK.
- Matches Played: 22
- CSK Won: 13
- KXIP won: 9
Significant Approaching Milestones.
2- Mohammad Shami needs 2 more scaps to take 50 IPL wickets.
150- This will be Ambati Rayudu’s 150th IPL game.
3- Dwyane Bravo requires 3 more wickets to have an IPL career haul of 150 scalps.
Match conditions
Venue: Dubai international cricket stadium, Dubai.
Date & Timings: October 4, 2020, at 7.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 33 C.
Pitch: Likely to be slow batting surface with possible due later on.
