A blockbuster on the cards as two kings go to war

In a war of the Kings, Chennai and Punjab would lock horns as varied interests stack up while the destination remains the same. Two teams with contrasting pasts have had a rocky start to the latest edition of the tournament. Chennai has slumped down to two consecutive defeats where KKR surpassed them in a modest-scoring match while the Lucknow Super Giants opened their IPL account, chasing down a ginormous total.

Punjab Kings, on the contrary, were off to a solid start as they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling opener where Odean Smith’s late blitzkrieg laced with Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s madness in the middle sealed the deal for them but did very little to paper over their woes. The following match saw their batting-order crumble in front of a steaming KKR bowling line up and their bowlers were blown out of contention by a soaring Russell.

For both the teams, this will be an important encounter as there will be no second thoughts on the expected upshot. Chennai will be happy with the way that Robin Uthappa has responded as he bagged a 27-ball-50, insinuating an upcoming storm. Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube were bang on their money as they scored effortlessly in the middle, keeping the scoreboard intact. However, it was another Dhoni showdown in the end, laced perfectly with their new captain Ravindra Jadeja’s breezy cameo that helped Chennai score a momentous 210.

Sadly, for their bowlers, the Super Giants came out at their finest and everyone got peppered to the ropes mercilessly, partially thanks to the dew factor that made life even easier for the Giants. The worst brunt of the Lucknow madness was suffered by Shivam Dube who totally lost his plot and was smashed for a staggering 25 runs in an over, that completely tipped the game in favour of the Giants.

With so much to worry about, both the teams will have to find a way to break free from the manacles that they are currently enchained in and most importantly, both the captains need to find themselves in a rich vein of form. Mayank Agarwal did get a desired start against the Challengers but threw it away brashly, while the Knights didn’t even let him hang around for a bit. It will be interesting to witness, how two teams who are giants of the sport react to the shadow of modesty that has currently been imposed upon them.

Venue Watch:

Brabourne Stadium has quite a tint of history coupled with it. It was established in 1937 and is India’s first permanent sporting venue. It has always been touted as a paradise for the batters and the teams chasing are endowed with an undue advantage unless the scorecard reads something colossal. A total of 8 T20 matches have been played at Brabourne where the teams chasing has won on 6 occasions. The average first innings score here is 157 while the average second innings score has been 147. Given the current scenario and the hard-hitting prowess of the batters, let these figures not be an illusion.

Squads:

Punjab Kings:

Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odeon Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell

Chennai Super Kings:

Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, Dwaine Pretorious, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar (injured), Adam Milne, Chris Jordan, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, KM Asif, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Bhagath Varma, Hari Nishanth, Subranshu Senapati.

Match Details:

Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings

Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Date: 3rd April 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST