In Qualifier 1 of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. The match is expected to an intriguing, no-holds-barred battle between the two former IPL champions, especially as the performance of both CSK and SRH has been neck-and-neck this season. While Hyderabad are table-toppers with 18 points from 14 matches and a net run rate (NRR) of +0.280, Chennai are place second on points table with an equal number of points but slightly lower NRR of + 0.253. The raucous Mumbai fans could expect a rip-roaring contest on Tuesday.
The winner of this clash of the champions will get a direct qualification to the IPL 2018 final, to be played in Mumbai on May 27. The loser will play Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator match to be played on Wednesday (May 23) between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, ranked third and fourth, respectively, after the Round-Robin stage. Qualifier 2 will be played on Friday (May 25). All playoff matches will begin at 7 pm, unlike the 8 pm schedule for Round-Robin matches.
Who has an edge in the CSK vs SRH Qualifier?
Chennai Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge going into Qualifier 1; not only have they better than their southern rivals but they also have a winning momentum going into the match being played on what promises to be a bouncy track. While CSK stopped the aspirations of Kings XI Punjab by overcoming a difficult start on Sunday in their adopted home base of Pune, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their three previous games on trot after sealing their playoff spot with a victory on May 10 against Delhi Daredevils.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, somehow, have lately not able to muster up the intensity they showed in the first half of their league-stage campaign. To an extent, their highly rated bowling attack has also looked off-colour in their previous three games. Also, it was the CSK halted Sunriserd six winnings motorway with a comprehensive eight-wicket drubbing on May 13 in Pune.
SRH batting: All eggs in a basket?
For their batting, SRH have depended mainly on their captain Kane Williamson, who has been in a terrific form and risen to the number two slot among leading run-getters’ with 661 runs at an average of 60. He is just 23 runs behind the orange cap currently held by Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant with 684 runs.
Among SRH batsmen, only Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan (437 runs) have shown some consistency, in contrast to their bowling attack which, barring the last few games, has been the talking point of IPL 2018. Sunrisers Hyderbad will need their middle order, especially Manish Pandey, to take up more responsibility to counter the CSK thrust.
SRH bowling: All guns need to blaze
In bowling, SRH have depended mostly on seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sidharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma, as well as overseas spinners Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan. The bowling attack needs to come up with an effective plan to stifle at the top of the order CSK’s Ambati Rayudu, who took the game away with a hundred. Rayudu made an unbeaten 79 in their first contest.
Blow hot, blow cold: CSK need to be consistent
The positive for Chennai Super Kings, who have alternately blown hot and cold in their last six games, is that they have not depended on just a couple of batsmen, although Rayudu has been their standout performer with 586 runs. In their last league game against KXIP, Dhoni’s tactics to send Harbhajan Singh and Deepak Chahar ahead of himself showed some intriguing thinking by the Captain cool.
Shane Watson (438 runs from 13 matches) too has been in top form along with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The form of key batsman Suresh Raina, who anchored the innings splendidly against KXIP on Sunday with an unbeaten 61, is another encouraging sign. The outstanding spell of fast bowling by young South African Lungi Ngidi, who grabbed 4 off 10 to take the man of the match award in last Round-Robin match of IPL 2018, could not have come at a more opportune time for CSK. With Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo doing their bit on the pace bowling front, CSK will be banking on spin twins Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja to deliver in the middle overs.
Head to Head of teams :
SRH 2 – 6 CSK
Team Record in Playoffs :
SRH 3 W – 2 L
CSK 10 W – 7 L
playing 11 probables for Qualifier 1:
CSK: MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Billings, Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja, Lungi Ngidi, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur.
SRH: Kane Williamson, Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Sreevats Goswami, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Bhuvneswar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma
“Ankit Vaishnav”
