IPL 2019 Match Preview: M5 – DC VS CSK: The Delhi Capitals began their season with a convincing 37-run win over the Mumbai Indians on Sunday night, while the Super Kings were forced to work hard in their chase of 71 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season opener.
Delhi played on a batting paradise at the Wankhede Stadium, while the Super Kings played on a low and slow turner in the season opener. One can expect a fairer surface will be used in this match, and hence both teams will have to adapt to the conditions they are likely to come up against. In addition, Delhi Capitals, who played a match on Sunday night and travelled to Delhi on Monday, will have to recover from the fatigue of their journey and get into match-mode quickly.
One expects a change will be made to the Super Kings playing XI; if the surface is a fair one, there’s a good chance Faf du Plessis could take the place of Imran Tahir. The Delhi Capitals would be considering bringing in Amit Mishra – who did so well last season – into the XI, possibly at the expense of Rahul Tewatia.
Delhi Capitals
With CSK packed with spinners, Capitals could be inclined towards not making the mistake that RCB did, and could look to add a third spin option to support Axar Patel and Rahul Tewatia.
Sandeep Lamichhane for Trent Boult could be a punt worth taking, with the leggie clocking a lot of T20 miles around the world between the last IPL and now. Tuesday’s game might be too early for Chris Morris to return, given he played for South Africa in the T20I against Sri Lanka just a couple of days before.
Capitals shouldn’t worry too much on the bowling front as Keemo Paul impressed on pitch that turned a bit two-paced in the second innings, by bowling a lot of cutters.
Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Colin Ingram, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Trent Boult/Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma
Chennai Super Kings
The spin-heavy line-up was perfect for the ultra-torpid Chepauk surface, but will it add up for Kotla too? Given the number of left-handers (Shikhar Dhawan, Colin Ingram and Rishabh Pant) in DC’s top-heavy line-up, the experience of Harbhajan Singh will once again be vital at the national capital. Fleming reckoned CSK tend to be ‘conservative’ once they’ve decided on the balance of the side, so expect them to stick to the same XI – even if it means keeping Faf du Plessis and Sam Billings on the bench.
Probable XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir
Head to Head in IPL
Matches – 18, Delhi Capitals won – 6, Chennai Super Kings won – 12
Both teams won their respective home matches last season. Shane Watson (78 of 40 balls) and MS Dhoni (51* of 22 balls) starred in CSK’s win in Pune, while the spin duo of Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichhane strangled the visitors in Delhi’s 34-run win at home.