The penultimate of the league stages of IPL 2019 will be played between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, Chandigarh. KXIP have been eliminated from playoffs race, while a loss here might mean CSK lose their spot in the top two positions of the points table and a chance to play the first qualifier at home in Chennai.

The match has a lot of value for both teams, as it is a way for KXIP to bid goodbye to their loyal fans with a win over a team that has qualified for the playoffs, while for CSK a win here will ensure they play the qualifier in their home. R Ashwin and MS Dhoni are two of the most strategically astute captains and though CSK won against KXIP in the previous meeting in Chepauk, KXIP has the home advantage here.

However, with this being a day game, the dew in the second innings is nullified and CSK can bring in their spinners to wreak havoc on KXIP batsmen, who have not had good experience against spin given the fastpitch in Mohali and dew in night games. But Dhoni knows the ground very well and he also knows how to counteract the surprises that are thrown by Ashwin in the form of his team changes.

Whatever happens, we do have a mouth-watering contest at our hands between two good teams.

Toss: Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Playing XIs

KXIP: Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (w), Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami.

CSK: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir.