Time: October 2, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Pitch report
The average first and second innings scores at Dubai read 179 and 148 respectively this season. Two of the six matches ended in a Super Over, while the remaining four were won by the team batting first.
Power players
Faf du Plessis has been the only consistent batsman for Chennai, scoring the bulk of the runs in whatever situation he is put into. His scores read 58*, 72, and 43. In the absence of Rayudu, he has been playing both roles: floater and aggressor. To add more fuel to the fire, his 4 catches are the most in the season, thanks to his fielding positions. The ball somehow finds him at the boundary line.
Jonny Bairstow has continued his rich vein of form. Although it came at a strike rate of 110, Bairstow’s fifty against Delhi eventually proved how tough it was to collect runs on the Abu Dhabi track. He has two fifties in three innings this season.
Chennai have confirmed that Ambati Rayudu has recovered from the hamstring sprain and will play on Friday. Rayudu looked in ominous touch in the opening game of the season, receiving the Man of the Match award for his outstanding innings of 71 off 48. More importantly, his comeback will strengthen the weakened Chennai middle-order.
Kane Williamson took a mere innings to remind everyone of his class-apart batsmanship. On a difficult wicket, he moved around the crease and toyed with the field. Eventually, it was his brisk knock of 41 off 26 that happened to be a turning point.
David Warner’s scores read 6, 36, and 45, although he could have converted the last two starts into big innings. That being said, batting at the top has been a challenging task and Warner is gradually getting accustomed to the conditions. A Warner special is on the cards.
Smart picks
MS Dhoni may not have taken his team over the line with his finishing skills, but he has been collecting enough fantasy points for the players. He has taken 4 catches and scored 44 runs with a strike rate of 142.
Rashid Khan was adjudged Man of the Match for his excellent figures of 4-0-14-3. He kept attacking the stumps, forcing the batsmen to play false strokes. We will now see a rise in his percentage selection in fantasy sports.
Sam Curran has taken the bulk of the wickets for Chennai with an economy of 7.3. He has been more than handy with the bat, when Dhoni wanted someone to reduce the required run rate in chases.
Probable XIs
Chennai: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur/Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood
Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (w), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan
