Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will clash against inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 61st Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) match at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday evening, May 14. A win will secure CSK a playoff qualification as they currently sit in the second position with 15 points from 12 games, a point behind table-toppers Gujarat Titans. MS Dhoni-led CSK beat Delhi Capitals by 27 runs in their last game as they compete for the top-two spot with two group-stage games remaining.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a heavy nine-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals in their last game, their seventh defeat of the season. They are struggling at the eighth position and a defeat against CSK will end their hopes for the playoff qualification. KKR need to win their remaining two games which will help them to 14 points only and that is very unlikely to help them secure a place in playoffs this season. Chennai won the first-leg fixture against Kolkata earlier this season and have won four of their last five encounters as well.
Pitch Report: CSK vs KKR
The pitch at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium has a balanced surface and it will be a spin vs spin game on Sunday. The pitch has favored batters this season with six times teams positing 170-plus totals but bowlers dominated the last game here. The average first innings score here is 163 with teams chasing winning just 29 of 73 IPL matches so far. Chennai managed to score 167 runs,100 runs in the last ten overs, while batting first in the most recent game here and then restricted Delhi to just 140 runs.
Will Toss Matter?
Yes, it will. Teams batting first have won only 29 of 73 IPL matches here so far. Chennai have been excellent at home this season with four wins from six games, the most wins by a home team this season. Teams will prefer chasing as spin is likely to play a big part again at Chepauk Stadium on Sunday.
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai - The Numbers Game
Basic IPL Stats
- Total matches: 73
- Matches won batting first: 29
- Matches won bowling first: 44
Average IPL Stats
- Average 1st Innings scores: 163
- Average 2nd Innings scores: 150
Score Stats for IPL matches
- Highest total recorded - 246/5 (20 Ov) by CSK vs RR
- Highest score chased - 205/8 (20 Ov) by CSK vs RR
- Lowest score defended - 126/8 (20 Ov) by RCB vs CSK
Full Squads -
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(c & wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Sisanda Magala, Ben Stokes, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Subhranshu Senapati, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Akash Singh, Bhagath Varma, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee, Mandeep Singh, Johnson Charles, David Wiese, Aarya Desai
