Kolkata: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s vintage form has added to their strength and table-toppers Chennai Super Kings would look to continue their winning momentum when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL match, here tomorrow.
Dhoni has turned back the clock with his last three innings, two of them half centuries, adding to the fine run of imposing all-rounder Shane Watson.
CSK are currently leading the eight-team table with 12 points from six wins out of eight games.
Both the teams are here on the back of two morale-boosting wins. While KKR successfully chased 176 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru, CSK reigned supreme against Delhi Daredevils at their adopted home in Pune.
Half-centuries from Watson and Dhoni blasted CSK to its third 200-plus score and then young fast bowlers Lungi Ngidi and KM Asif choked Delhi’s chase to hand CSK its sixth win of the season.
Dhoni himself has been a major factor in CSK’s success with his batting and the ever-inspiring captaincy. His decision to make four changes against Delhi showed the team’s depth and his faith in the bench-strength.
Ngidi looked reliable both in powerplay and at the death as the South African led the pace department in the absence of an injured Deepak Chahar.
Asif also impressed with his raw pace and quick arm action and took two wickets on debut, though the young Kerala pacer leaked 43 runs in three overs.
In batting, Watson, who struggled for Royal Challengers Bangalore last season, has been a revelation.
Backed by Dhoni, the veteran Australian all-rounder slammed this season’s highest score — 106 — his fourth T20 hundred.
Ambati Rayudu too has gone about his tasks quietly, be it as an opener or in the middle-order to lead the batting chart with 370 runs.
Then there is Dhoni himself. Dhoni is currently averaging 71.50 with three half-centuries.
His knock of 70 not out from 34 balls to hunt down RCB’s 205 still remains the talk of the town. The way he sealed the game with his signature swing over wide long on boundary brought back memories of the 2011 World Cup triumph.
With a handsome 12-7 win-loss record, the Dhoni-led side will start favourite to win tomorrow.
In the mid-table with six matches to go, KKR cannot afford to lose at Eden Gardens, where they play three more, in their bid to secure a maiden playoff berth under Dinesh Karthik.
KKR’s campaign, so far, has been hugely dependent on the overseas trio of Chris Lynn, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.
Lynn was the architect of KKR’s six-wicket win in Bangalore with a restrained knock of 62 not out from 52 balls after he got a reprieve on seven.
KKR would hope for a strong batting show, especially from Robin Uthappa who is in the middle of a lean patch and is yet to score a half-century.
KKR also seemed to have under-utilised youngster Shubman Gill by sending him lower down the order.
Batting at no. 7, the Under-19 World Cup star has scores of 3, 6, 14 not out, 37, 5 not out in what seems to be sheer waste of talent. Having failed to defend a steep 203 in the first leg, KKR bowlers will look for a better show this time.
Teams (from):
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (C), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willey.
Match starts at 8pm IST. (PTI)
