With the play-off spot already sealed, former champions Chennai Super Kings will look to make sure that the momentum is maintained once they tackle struggling Rajasthan Royals of their Indian Premier League match right here on Saturday.
The talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK grew to become the primary crew to make the play-offs with a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
They are presently on the prime with 18 factors from 11 matches, adopted by Delhi Capitals (16 factors), Royal Challengers Bangalore (14) and Kolkata Knight Riders (10).
With eight factors from 11 matches, RR are second from the underside within the eight-team desk and a loss on Saturday will scale back their probabilities of qualifying for the knockout stage.
The equation for RR is straightforward – win the remaining three video games effectively and be in competition for a fourth play-off spot.
But it might be simpler stated than accomplished at CSK, a formidable opponent awaited them first, in opposition to whom they misplaced by 38 runs within the first leg of the match in Chennai.
With 4 consecutive wins below their belt, CSK are on a roll. The Yellow Brigade defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by 20 runs, adopted by wins over Royal Challengers Bangalore (by 6 wickets), Kolkata Knight Riders (by 2 wickets) and SRH.
And the Donnie-led aspect will probably be eager to proceed in good kind because the match approaches its enterprise finish.
On the opposite hand, nothing goes proper for RR as they suffered a hat-trick of defeats – by 33 runs in opposition to DC and by 7 wickets in opposition to bottom-up SRH and RCB respectively.
It is now or by no means for the Sanju Samson-led crew because it fights to carry the slide and transfer on.
CSK’s batting division has been spectacular within the match to this point.
South African greats Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have proven nice chemistry whereas Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni kind the core of the center order.
The younger opener Gaikwad is within the type of his life, registering scores of 40, 38, 88 not out and 45, which gave CSK a robust begin within the power-plays.
The CSK bowlers have additionally put in a strong present with pacers like Josh Hazlewood, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur, whereas Jadeja and Ali are in control of the spin unit.
RR, then again, had been utterly outplayed by their respective opponents of their final three matches.
Barring skipper Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, many of the RR batsmen are struggling.
West Indies’ Evin Lewis had scored 58 off 37 balls within the earlier match in opposition to RCB, however Jaiswal misplaced his wicket as soon as once more after an excellent begin.
The all-round trio of Chris Morris, Riyan Parag and Rahul Teotia have given a troublesome struggle to RR.
Among the bowlers, Karthik Tyagi, Chetan Sakariya and Mustafizur Rahman have accomplished effectively for the crew however this season’s highest paid IPL participant Morris has let the crew down.
Rajasthan Royals Team: Sanju Samson (captain), Liam Livingstone, Evin Lewis, David Miller, Chris Morris, Oshane Thomas, Mustafizur Rahaman, Tabraiz Shamsi, Glenn Phillips, Chetan Sakariya, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh, Anuj Rawat, KC Cariappa, Yashashvi Jaiswal , Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldip Yadav, Mahipal Lomror.
Chennai Super Kings Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur. Sam Curran, R Sai Kishore, Moeen Ali, Okay Gautam, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagat Verma, C Hari Nishant.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
