The three-time champion Chennai Super Kings will enter the field for what will be their third match of the 2020 IPL, when they face the capitals of Delhi later today at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
MS Dhoni CSK started their campaign with a morale-boosting five-wicket victory against the defending champions Mumbai Indians, but in their second match, they fell to a 16-run loss to the Rajasthan Royals.
As for the capitals of Delhi, the higher order was impressed by a special from Mohammed Shami. It was a complete performance by Marcus Stoinis that led the match to a Super Over where Kagiso Rabada’s two wickets in three balls set the stage for a comfortable DC win.
CSK have had the wood on their opponents of late, having won the last three meetings between the two sides. And, with MS Dhoni eager to see his team get back on the winning track, we could be in for a Chennai v Delhi fight.
IPL 2020: Chennai v Delhi match prediction
Going into the competition, DC was heralded as one of the hitting units to look out for, but except for performances by Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, there wasn’t much to note in their opening match against KXIP.
As for CSK, Faf du Plessis has been their knight in shining armor for two half centuries in so many games. And, with two household names leading the DC bowling unit in the form of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, there is no question that du Plessis will have to take responsibility for reversing the DC pacemaker threat today.
Although CSK bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Royals hitters Sanju Samson and Steve Smith in particular, the stadium in Dubai has longer limits, and Piyush Chawla’s experience could be very useful to Dhoni.
The only pressing issue for the CSK captain would be the hammering Lungi Ngidi and Ravindra Jadeja have received in the 2020 IPL so far, with both conceding more than 10 RPOs this season.
While Dhoni’s philosophy of supporting players for the long haul comes under discussion, it would be interesting to see if Ngidi really makes way for Australian pacemaker Josh Hazlewood.
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On the batting front, Shane Watson has yet to get into his groove, and today could well be the day the Australian conjures up a special spectacle. And while DC certainly has Rabada as their strike pitcher, the rest of the bowling unit will have a big task at hand if the burly starter gets going.
It remains to be seen if Ravichandran Ashwin’s injury has an impact on how he is used in this game, if he plays at all. But except for Rabada and Ashwin, the rest of the bowling unit is not as fierce as DC would have liked.
Mohit Sharma hasn’t had the best of seasons at IPL 2020 (read 9 wickets from 11 matches in the last three IPL editions), and Axar Patel hasn’t really made an impact as a striking bowler of late.
And so if CSK negotiates the new ball threat, they certainly have the batting drive to score a great score or chase the goal that has been set for them.
Prediction: CSK to win
Posted Sept 25, 2020 at 11:00 AM IST
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