Time: September 25, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Pitch report
Contrary to what was believed, the pitches in the UAE are getting better and better for the batsmen. KL Rahul’s innings suggests that if you pick the right moments and right bowlers, a high score is on the cards. He played carefully against Yuzvendra Chahal and smashed the rest of the bowlers.
Players news
Delhi have stated that they want to see how R Ashwin shapes up in the training session on Thursday. Meanwhile, Ambati Rayudu and DJ Bravo have not recovered from their injuries yet.
Power players
Faf du Plessis has accumulated the most points in fantasy sports in this season of the Indian T20 League. Not only has he been outstanding with the bat but also spectacular in the field, having taken four catches. In the absence of Suresh Raina, du Plessis is MS Dhoni’s main man when it comes to safeguarding the long-off boundary. The way he has batted indicates that Chennai wants him to bat as long as possible and then go for the full monty at the death. To put things into perspective, he is more likely to get your more points.
Everything went Marcus Stoinis’ way this Sunday. He walloped 53 off 21 and then defended 1 off 3, taking a lost match to the Super Over. It’s obvious that he will play an all-rounder’s role – the most crucial in fantasy cricket – throughout this edition.
Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant will continue to be Delhi’s MVPs. Both had scored the bulk of the runs last year, and in their opening match, it was their 73-run stand that kept Delhi in the hunt.
Sam Curran has been explosive with the bat and impactful with the ball. He is in the peak of his form, and seems to be Dhoni’s main man in every challenging situation.
Smart picks
Axar Patel ended with excellent figures of 1 for 14 in 4 overs. He mixed up the pace very well, making the batsmen guess every bowl. More importantly, he was accurate.
Kagiso Rabada rarely fails to deliver in the Indian T20 League. He first finished with figures of 2 for 28 and then took 2 more wickets in the Super Over. The pitches in the UAE seem to suit his style of bowling.
It’s difficult to decipher MS Dhoni’s decisions. At what position will he bat is something he can answer based on the match situation. Given the three sixes he hit in the last over, there’s still some gas left in the tank. Whether he should have hit them earlier, is a question that only Dhoni can answer.
Probable XIs
Chennai: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur/Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Lungi Ngidi/Imran Tahir
Delhi: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin/Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Mohit Sharma
