The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on the Pune Warriors India (PWI) at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday. This is their first meeting in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013.
Overview:
The CSK were shocked by Mumbai Indians in their first match but bounced back and won the next two matches, including a nail-biting win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The two-time IPL champions have shown that they have in them the talent and will to lift the cup again.
The PWI are at the bottom half of the table with just one win from four matches played so far. They are perhaps the most unpredictable team. They have big hitters who can destroy their opponent but at the same time could kiss the ground if they lost earlier wickets. They can beat any team on their day.
Previous Meetings:
CSK and PWI have met four times in the past and the former have an edge over the latter with a 3-1 win-lost record. They won in their respective home matches last season.
Team News:
Chennai Super Kings: Openers Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey are looking good, leading the team to a victory in the match against KXIP. Skipper MS Dhoni's form is the strength of the team, and they have Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and Subramaniam Badrinath in the batting line-up.
In the bowling department, they have Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, Chris Morris, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Ravichandran Ashwin. Albie Morkel has been made to warm the bench following good performance from his team-mates.
Pune Warriors India: Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa gave a good start against the Rajasthan Royals, which they won, but failed in the previous match against the Mumbai Indians. They will be expected to give a good start so that the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Ross Taylor and Tirumalasetti Suman can add some quick runs.
The team will suffer a big setback, as skipper Angelo Mathews will not play on Monday following BCCI's directive not to let allow Sri Lankan cricketers to play in Chennai following Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's intervention over Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
In the bowling department, PWI have bowlers like Ashok Dinda, Marlon Samuels, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rahul Sharma.
Prediction:
PWI no doubt have hard-hitting batsmen but beating CSK in their hometurf will be a herculean task. Dhoni's boys should win.
SQUADS:
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Albie Morkel, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ankit Rajpoot, Baba Aparajith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois du Plessis, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Karthikeyan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
Pune Warriors India: Angelo Mathews (c), Aaron Finch, Abhishek Nayar, Ajantha Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Majumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, Raiphi Gomez, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Shrikant Wagh, Steve Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla, Yuvraj Singh, Wayne Parnell
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.