Top place will be the target when the Chennai Super Kings travel to Raipur to take on the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2015.
CSK assured themselves of a place in the playoffs with a nice little win over the Rajasthan Royals in Chennai, and with that particular crucial step of the season done, MS Dhoni will now be keen to seal one of the top two spots in the points table, which guarantees a team two bites at the cherry to make it to the IPL 2015 final.
Brendon McCullum showed just how much he will be missed by CSK by playing an atypical innings, where he controlled that desire to hit a boundary every ball, and anchored the innings (well, as much as McCullum can be called an anchor, really) to great effect.
The result of his 61-ball 81 was CSK getting to a score of 157, which on the gripping and slow wicket in Chennai was too much for the Rajasthan Royals to breach. Only a point separates CSK and KKR in the top two places, and the Super Kings will want to put a bit more daylight between the two sides with two points against the Daredevils.
DD have nothing but pride, and the desire to avoid the wooden spoon again, to play for, but with the match being held in Raipur, that proper home advantage situation has been taken away a little bit.
Delhi nearly pulled a victory out of nowhere against SRH in their last game, also n Raipur, but a brilliant effort from Kedar Jadhav proved to be in vain, even if the performance would have boosted the side a little bit heading into this match against THE heavyweight team of the IPL.
"We are happy with the way Kedar batted in the last match, and also the way Saurabh Tiwary has come up whenever he got the opportunity," DD batting coach Pravin Amre said.
"Obviously when you are not qualifying, there are many weak points. But there are these particular times where we can see that some of the youngsters are doing well and that can be a big positive for us next year when they can deliver for us, because this experience will help them to play better next year."
One player who has been a disappointment is Yuvraj Singh, who, yet again, could not quite live up to his top billing. However, DD's failures cannot just be attributed to Yuvraj, with some big names like Angelo Mathews also flattering to deceive time and again.
Mathews failed to show the class he usually shows time and again for Sri Lanka, in this IPL, and questions can be posed as to whether dropping Albie Morkel, after his outstanding, but valiant, knock in their first match of the tournament, ironically against CSK, was the right decision.
Momentum is everything in the IPL, and if you cannot function as a well-rounded unit, the best way to pick up wins is to bank on an individual in form. Maybe Morkel might have been the answer, at least in the early stages of the tournament, and if the South African gets another opportunity on Tuesday, he will certainly want to take DD over the line, after failing to do so by a single run in the reverse fixture.
"CSK are one team in the tournament every team wants to do well against, whether you are qualifying or not for the playoffs," Amre added.
"In the first match too we had played really well, but lost by just one run. Regardless of our position in the points table the game against CSK is important [as] they are a good team. We are a team that is in rebuilding mode. We have a lot of youngsters in the team and they will be looking forward to performing well in this match."
Where to Watch Live
Get the Match Report and Highlights HERE
DD vs CSK IPL 2015 Match 49 is scheduled for an 8 pm IST (3.30 pm BST, 10.30 am ET) start with live TV coverage in India on Sony Six, Sony Max, Sony Kix and Sony Aath. Also watch the match via live streaming online on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Audience watch DD vs CSK in the US can go to ESPN or ESPN Cricket, while UK viewers can catch all the match action live on Sky Sports, Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports. Viewers from the rest of the world can go to Cricketgateway.com to watch live Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings.
