The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the match 30 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday. They have played six matches each but it will be their first meeting in the ongoing tournament.
Overview:
Both CSK and RR have eight points each on the table after winning four matches each from six games played so far. The former are led by current Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni and the latter by former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid.
CSK are at the top half of the table with eight points. They won the last two matches convincingly, beating Delhi Daredevils by 86 runs and then Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets. They will be keen to keep the momentum.
RR are also on top half of the table with eight points. They beat the Mumbai Indians by 87 runs but conceded a seven-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous match. They will be keen to top the table by winning on Monday.
Previous Meetings:
CSK and RR have met 11 times in the past with the former winning on seven occasions and the latter four. RR defeated CSK in the final of the inaugural IPL to lift the cup but the latter dominated there after.
Team News:
Chennai Super Kings: After amassing a total of 169 runs against DD, they managed to score only 124 against KKR, which will worry the think tank. Skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath and Ravichandran Ashwin failed with their bat. They managed to chase down a low score posted by KKR - thanks to Michael Hussey and Ravindra Jadeja who took the team home. They top order needs to perform and out up a huge total on the board.
Ravindra Jadeja shone in the last match, taking three wickets for 20 runs while Ravichandran Ashwin took two for 21. They have Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, Chris Morris, Dwayne Bravo and Mohit Sharma to lead the bowling attack.
Rajasthan Royals: They beat Mumbai Indians by a huge marging of 87 runs but went on to concede a seven-wicket defeat to RCB in the following game, managing to post a total of just 117 runs. Skipper Rahul Dravid and Stuart Binny were the only batsmen who contributed in the previous match. Other batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Dishant Yagnik and Brad Hodge need to give good contribution to beat the two-times champions.
On the bowling front, RR have Kevon Cooper, Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Shaun Tait and Stuart Binny. After bowling out the Mumbai Indians for 92 in 18.2 overs, they managed to take only three wickets in the following match. They need to work on consistency.
Prediction:
CSK have lost two of the three matches played at home this season, which will worry them when they take on RR, who have shown discipline on all fronts. RR are a team to beat but CSK are the favourite to win on Monday.
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
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dishant Yagnik, Fidel Edwards, Harmeet Singh, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kumar Boresha, Kushal Janith Perera, Owais Shah, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Shukla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Vikramjeet Malik
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
