Match – Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings – 53rd match
Venue – Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time – 3:30 PM IST, 10:00 AM GMT
Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar
Pitch Report
The pitch in Dubai has been an excellent one for batting. But in the last two games, the bowlers have also had their say. The performances of the spinners will hold some importance if not a whole lot. Batting second should be the way forward for both teams.
Avg first innings score: 150 (8 matches in the IPL 2021 at Dubai)
Record of chasing teams: Won – 6, Lost – 2, Tied – 0
Probable Playing XIs:
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina/Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood
Bench: Robin Uthappa/Suresh Raina, KM Asif, Jason Behrendorff, Bhagath Verma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Narayan Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, R Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, Sam Curran, Imran Tahir
Punjab Kings
KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Moises Henriques, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Bench: Chris Jordan, Jalaj Saxena, Mandeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Murugan Ashwin, Adil Rashid, Ishan Porel, Fabian Allen, Deepak Hooda
Head-to-Head
Overall
Played – 25 | Chennai Super Kings – 16 | Punjab Kings – 9 | N/R – 0
In the UAE
Played – 3 | Chennai Super Kings – 2 | Punjab Kings – 1 | N/R – 0
Probable best batter of the match
KL Rahul— Punjab Kings
KL Rahul has been outstanding for the Kings in the tournament. In 12 matches, the right-hander has notched 528 runs at an average of 52.80 and a strike rate of 129.09. Having smashed five half-centuries, he has looked in ominous touch. In the previous game against RCB, he score 39 runs, though his efforts came in a losing cause. He will look to do well in the crunch game.
Probable best bowler of the match
Dwayne Bravo– Chennai Super Kings
Dwayne Bravo has been brilliant for the Super Kings in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The West Indies all-rounder has picked up 12 wickets from eight games at an incredible economy rate of 6.93. In CSK’s previous game against DC, he came to bowl in the 18th over and kept his team in hunt for a win. The veteran will look to deliver and cement CSK’s position in the top two.
