IPL 2018: Match 5, CSK vs KKR: Undefeated teams look to topple each other

The ball is likely to turn on the pitch at Chepauk, making this a very even contest.

Teams would like to keep up their winning momentum.

By the end of the day, one of these two teams will be beaten for the first time and the other will move forward remaining unbeaten, for now at least, but Chennai Super Kings playing their first game at their fortress in the past, the M.A Chidambaram stadium, would want to dominate Kolkata Knight Riders. 

Something that won't be easy. KKR led by Dinesh Kartik put on a superb performance at the Eden Gardens in their opening encounter versus RCB. CSK themselves arrive into this game after clinching a cliffhanger versus the Mumbai Indians, a game where they looked like the second-best side for most of its duration at the Wankhede. 

While CSK is a team that is heavily dependent on its spin in presence of Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir and the wicket at  theChepauk is likely to assist them, the Kolkata Knight Riders showed tremendous depth with their spin department in the very first game because of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine. It is this tussle that makes this a very even contest. MS Dhoni loves his spin but Dinesh Kartik too seems to relish it. 

The Chennai Super Kings should still start off as favorites playing at home and looking good with their strengths on paper. Far too often we have seen with our sports that when there's a pitch designed for one skill to excel, it is those who do the other ones substantially that thrive. Watch out for it. Chase will be the order of the "night" for both the teams.

Toss: Chennai Super Kings have won the toss and have opted to field

Playing XI 

KKR: Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Piyush Chawla, Tom Curran, Robin Uthappa, Vinay Kumar, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh

CSK: Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Billings, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar,Shardul Thakur

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 10 Apr, 2018

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