The Chennai Super Kings face off against the Delhi Daredevils for the first time in the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League. While Chennai Super Kings are number 2 at the points table, the Delhi Daredevils on the other hand are at the bottom half of the table struggling to stay in contention for the play offs. However, their most recent outings suggest a different story.
While the newly appointed captain Shreyas Iyer led Delhi from the front on his captaincy debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders, they also posted the highest total of the ongoing season and restricted KKR to 55 runs short. CSK looked unstoppable up till their encounter against the Mumbai Indians, in which they were comfortably defeated by 8 wickets.
CSK though would still have plenty of positives from the match. The only area CSK could work on would be the lack of momentum in the death overs especially when batting first because CSK feel at home while chasing totals. DD should now feel confident about themselves given the promise Colin Munro and Prithvi Shaw showed at the top of the order and that has definitely answered a lot of questions for DD. A series of wins and Delhi may well be back in the race big time.
Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu are very important to Chennai’s batting line up. While Rayudu is having the season of his life, opening the batting for CSK, Raina has also shown glimpses of his good old self in the tournament. CSK would expect healthy contributions from both these two men in form and build their innings around them. However, with CSK, it is also true that each time the team has sensed trouble a new savior has emerged out of nowhere.
Prithvi Shaw impressed one and all with his style and technique of play. His half century knock has shown that he is ready to play at this level against the best in the world. Facing the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Harbhajan Singh should be a good test for the youngster. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant would also be important for the batting department and it is high time that Glenn Maxwell makes a solid contribution with the bat.
For Delhi, Trent Boult has been amidst the wickets from the first match itself. In young Avesh Khan, they have found another fast bowler who has been doing pretty well for the team. Amit Mishra picked up a few crucial wickets the other night and if he maintains his rhythm, he could be a big game changer tonight.
Dwayne Bravo has been absolutely brilliant at the death overs and has picked up wickets as well as been hard to score off at the back end of the innings. With the injury of Deepak Chahar, other pacers must step up to the occasion and fill in for Chahar (if he does not play) who had been doing really well for CSK. Of course, CSK spinners would fancy their chances as well at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
All in all, a fierce battle is expected tonight. Broadcast starts at 20:00 Hours (IST).
