The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the last time in action.
The outcome of the game will decide whether the other team Kings XI Punjab will survive to live the excitement of the knockout stage or pack up their kits for flight back home with the CSK.
MS Dhoni’s wounded lions, out of the qualification race for the first time in the history of the league, are scheduled to face Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the 53rd game of the tournament at Abu Dhabi on Super Sunday.
CSK are coming off a couple of enthralling victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). There were little material gains for the Yellow Lions, except for the pride of a triumph, while spoiling the party and progress prospects of the two rivals.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja starred in CSK’s recent victories. However, the role of ‘Yellow Army’ in the tournament is that of a party-pooper.
CSK gets into the Sunday’s match after already having done a favour to the Punjab outfit with a win over KKR. Now, Kings XI will have to be weary of the resurgent Lions, who are in a must-win situation to keep their hopes afloat.
KL Rahul’s side did remarkably well to win five games in a row before facing defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday.
The best KXIP can do now is to reach 14 points and wait for the other results in the competition.
CSK’s batting looks formidable with Gaikwad at the top with two back to back fifties, to display enough ‘spark’ for himself. However, all eyes will be on Dhoni, who has been a pale shadow of his illustrious past – both as a batsman and the skipper.
Jadeja, in his own Rajputana style, had finished the job for his side with a brilliant 31* off just 11 deliveries. He would definitely be looking to end the tournament on a high.
Kings XI has to work on their bowling front and batting in the death. In their last game Punjab could only post 185 despite attaining a wonderful platform. Rivals RR had cruised home with 2.3 overs to spare.
All in all, the match is set to be an exciting affair with several teams keeping a close watch on the encounter.
Predicted XI:
CSK:
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), N Jagadeesan, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi
KXIP:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
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