Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
In most other seasons, Chennai Super Kings would have been just a few wins away from making their yet another playoffs qualification. In the 10 times that they have appeared in an IPL season. CSK have made it to the playoffs. But in a year that is 2020, CSK find themselves at an unlikely spot in the points table. They stand seventh with just two wins in seven games. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, have been at their usual struggling spot s they were last year. Amid a few injury issues and the ruling out of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, SRH, who looked to started the trend of trusting their bowlers no matter the score, have fallen apart with the veteran campaigner's injury. They stand fifth with three wins and four losses in seven games. The two will face each other at the same Dubai International Stadium where SRH had defeated CSK by seven runs earlier this season.
Head-to-head tie: Despite the result in the previous meeting, CSK still enjoy a good, dominating lead in the rivalry contest with 10 wins in 14 meetings. The two sides are now 1-1 in the UAE. Chennai had defeated SRH in Sharjah back in IPL 2014.
At the venue: For the second time this season, the two will come face-to-face at the same venue. Back in 2014, they won both the matches they played at the venue, but this season, while Chennai have managed to win just one of their four games in Dubai, SRH have won as many as they have lost in same number of matches.
Crucial stats:
- Shane Watson has an excellent record against the SRH, scoring 311 runs in seven innings at 51.83 and a strike rate of 155.50. Moreover, he holds an impressive record against Warner's go-to bowler Rashid Khan - 90 runs, 63 balls, 0 dismissals.
- Rashid has however been the most impressive bowler in the middle overs, going at 4.70 runs per over while also picking nine wickets in that phase.
- Warner too has a superb record against CSK, scoring 339 runs in as many matches as Watson at 48.43 an a strike rate of 156.94. He also needs 19 more runs to become the fastest player to 5000 IPL runs.
- The main issue that has hurt Chennai has been their batting in the middle-overs where they have scored at 7.62 runs per over while losing wickets every 5.38 balls. They can look to promote Sam Curran at No.4 to inject some momentum after the loss of the top three and thereby lessen the pressure on Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
