Chennai: Rajasthan Royals' inform openers -- Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal have had it easy up until now considering the flat-ish nature of Guwahati pitches. However, they will be up against the spin web of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on a pitch that grips, holds, and turns, meaning the bowlers won't be just sitting ducks here at the Chepauk pitch.
Purely going by the numbers is a testament to how unleashing they both have been, not only in terms of runs that they have garnered but blasting opponents through a sky-rocketing strike-rate. The England captain and youngster Jaiswal have two half-centuries to their name thus far, coming at 180.95 and 164.47 respectively and that has been enough to turn the tides in Rajasthan's favor early on.
Although, what is to be considered here are also the venues where the games were played. The two games of the three were played in Guwahati, one of the flattest deck in the country while the third game that Rajasthan Royals played was in Hyderabad -- a strip that heavily supports batters, where runs flows at batter's own volition.
The change in the venue at Chennai will certainly be a different world altogether where toss could be an underlying factor as chasing anything more than 180 requires the performance of the highest order. And the obstacles to overcome would be Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner, who will take up 10-12 overs of the match and they have it in them what it takes to choke the opposition. These three are not only threatening as the numbers would suggest where they have taken 11 wickets together in three games but can also slow down the opposition as their economy rate suggests.
Consider this: Moeen has an economy of 6.50 in two games that he has played while Jadeja has 6.88. Santer too has 6.75 and these numbers could be fatal to an opposition like Rajasthan that looks to score at a high pace. A vital cog, Moeen, did miss the last game on account of food poisoning but is expected to feature in the playing XI replacing Sisanda Magala. Another alteration that might take place would be that of Ben Stokes by Dwaine Pretorius. Stokes may not be match fit, come the game.
Royals too have with them enough in their armory the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal with the former being a shrewd tactician and the latter an out-and-out wicket-taker. Tamil Nadu's Murugan Ashwin add teeth to their bowling line-up. Deepak Chahar would give the game, perhaps the entire tournament amiss owing to the resurfacing of a left hamstring injury.
Moreover, Dhoni might find himself in an interesting predicament as to who to go for. Rajvardhan Hangargekar has been fast but erratic and the captain may even go for a willy Simarjeet Singh. The batting too seems heavily loaded with Ajinkya Rahane hitting a quick fifty and marking his comeback in the last match which also had performances from Jadeja and Santner. To top it off, Ruturaj Gaikwad's caliber put the CSK side on an equal pedestal with RR.
With the two sides, boasting stalwarts, especially in the batting order, it would be up to the bowlers' performance over which the results would heavily depend on. The Royals have power-packed players who can single-handedly demolish oppositions, their skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer being among the most lethal weapons in their armoury.
Their pace combo of Trent Boult and Jason Holder, both experience and high-profile international cricketers makes the Rajasthani side superior to the CSK. Althogh, the game's outcome would still be determined by which team plays better cricket on the given day.
The last time, the wicket offered bounce in the game against Lucknow Super Giants and the question as to how the wicket will behave is still up for grabs. Despite everything, the match, for sure, promises to be a cracker of a contest.
Teams (From):
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sisanda Magala, Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Ahay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Subharnshu Senapati, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesa Pathirana, Mahesh Theekshana, Bhagath Verma, Prashant Solanki, Shaikh Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Dhruv Jorel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, M Ashwin, K M Asif, K C Cariappa, Donovan Ferreira, Devdutt Padikkal, Obey McCoy, Joe Root, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vashist, Kuldip Yadav, Adam Zampa, Abdul Basith.
Match starts at 7.30 PM (IST).
