The Indian Premiere League has almost reached its climax where the top four teams look certain for a playoff berth and the middle two teams are living on the tiny hope of qualifying. Match 48 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an important match not only for the two teams but also for the other teams as it will affect the points table post the result and other teams will be watching in desperation.
Delhi is placed 7th currently while Chennai 6th but both teams have a slight chance of entering the playoffs because they are coming back from a big win from the last game. While Delhi won against Rajasthan, Chennai smoked 5 time champions Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram stadium. The captains are very much cautious of the significance of today’s game and would be hoping that their players do not falter at any given stage to maintain their current confidence and to cause some trouble in the points table.
Positives for DC
Delhi returns from a win against Rajasthan and is extremely confident. KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka’s form is a huge plus for the team, along with this, Mitchell Starc picking up wickets is a great sign for the Axar Patel-led side. The openers KL Rahul and Nissanka have been in sublime form this season and were involved in a record century partnership against Rajasthan, having said this KL’s strike rate has been better than ever. With a strike rate of 185 in nine matches he is the second highest run-scorer with 433 runs in the IPL and the highest for Delhi this season.
The electric starts both KL and Nissanka give in the powerplay have borne fruits to Delhi as, before the addition of Nissanka it faced a string of low scores and sluggish start inside the powerplay. The match against Rajasthan was an example where Delhi hammered 110 inside 10 overs while chasing in excess of 200. Along with this, Mitchell Starc, the Australian quick has induced energy amongst the bowling group, Starc’s pace becomes a challenge for opponents and his three wickets in the powerplay drove Delhi to victory.
Concerns for DC & CSK
Delhi has had plenty of injuries to deal with this season. First the back spasm of Sahil Parekh later the freakish Ngidi fall on the head. Ngidi has been cleared to play but it will be interesting to see whether DC management rushes him back or remains patient with him. Starc’s performance against Rajasthan eventually puts him ahead of Lungi Ngidi and this is another headache for Axar Patel, will he persist with Starc today or will Ngidi return? Off late Delhi has been vulnerable at home with just two wins out of the nine games played. It has also lost 3 consecutive matches at Arun Jaitley stadium.
The bowling for Delhi has been an issue. in-spite of scoring a herculean 260 against Punjab, the bowlers lacked aggression and were wayward in the line. Delhi now is in a precarious situation as being 7th on the table neither makes them disqualified nor they are entirely confident of reaching the play-off. With 8 points in nine matches, Delhi must win the remaining five games so that they have a slim chance of qualifying.
Talking about Chennai, Chennai’s campaign is no different than Delhi in fact they have been facing more problems than positive news. Dhoni was ruled out for three weeks is yet to play a game and it is still not confirmed whether he will feature in today’s game. An unfortunate injury to Ramakrishna Ghosh adds more stress to the CSK management.
In spite of the injuries and missing key players like Dhoni, Chennai has done exceptionally well to remain in the top six. It was a slow start for Chennai yes, as it lost the first three games but astounded after winning two games on the trot. Chennai’s problem has not been the absence of Dhoni alone rather it has been the unfortunate and countless injuries the players suffered at the wrong time.
Positives for CSK
Although, Sanju Samson has been a shining light for the yellow army with 315 runs in 9 matches, Sanju tops the chart for CSK. His century against Delhi Capitals at Chennai played a big part in their win. Sanju will be chomping at the bit to replicate his performance in today’s game. Another positive has been Ruturaj Gaikwad’s timely return to form. At the start of the tournament Ruturaj was going through a lean patch having scored only 104 runs but since the GT game, Gaikwad has looked assured at the crease having scored two half-centuries.
Negative for CSK
Chennai is short of experience still has managed to be in a good state in the tournament. The absence of star all-rounder Jadeja is hurting and is a huge gap to fill but Jamie Overton has been relatively better. Another talking point for Chennai is the form of world cup winner Shivam Dube. Dube’s form has fell drastically, he has scored a mere 150 runs in 8 matches with a below par strike rate of 140 and even in the field he looks like he is lost. Chennai’s play-off fate remains in the hands of Sanju and captain Gaikwad.
DC probable 11:
KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Ashutosh Sharma, Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Jamieson, Mukesh Kumar,
CSK probable 11:
Sanju Samson, Akeal Hossain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton,
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