Time: October 4, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Pitch report
The average first and second innings scores at Dubai read 177 and 149 respectively. The pitch gets slower in the second innings: while two matches ended in a Super Over, the remaining five were won by the teams batting first.
Power players
KL Rahul’s 132* off 69 came at the very venue. The second-highest score for Punjab was 26. Rahul single-handedly reduced Bangalore’s bowling unit to a punching bag. However, he won’t be the only batsman with the limelight on him. With 7 runs more than Rahul, Mayank Agarwal is the highest run-scorer of the season. Both have a hundred and a half-century to their names.
Mohammad Shami is the joint-highest wicket-taker. His 8 wickets include two three-wicket hauls. If Punjab bowl first, Shami is a good option for vice-captaincy. There is some lateral movement for pacers at the start of the innings in Dubai.
Faf du Plessis’ 22 against Hyderabad is his lowest score this season. Not that he played a false stroke but got run out to a brilliant piece of fielding. He has been at the peak of his form, scoring 195 runs in 4 matches including two fifties.
Smart picks
Ravindra Jadeja may not have been effective with the ball, but his half-century revived Chennai’s hopes momentarily against Hyderabad. If anything, he has batted better than their middle-order batsmen.
Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, and Deepak Chahar have taken 5 wickets each. To make your fantasy team selection easier, make sure you check the selection percentage of players before freezing your options.
Sheldon Cottrell may have conceded five sixes in an over to Tewatia, but he has been amongst wickets. He has never gone wicketless in four matches, starting off the season with consecutive two-fors.
Glenn Maxwell has been out of sorts throughout. He has scores of 1, 15, 13*, and 11. Punjab might as well replace him with Chris Gayle, the highest run-scorer in T20 cricket.
The same has been the case with Shane Watson. Unlike Maxwell, he has been hitting the ball well but blunders despite looking set for a big score. Come to think of it, this match has a number of experienced lads who are yet to find their feet.
MS Dhoni hasn’t been winning matches for Chennai, but he has been keeping the fantasy players ahead in the race. His selection percentage will be on the higher side, especially given the fact that he will bat at No. 5.
Both teams are struggling at the bottom of the table, losing three of 4 matches. The match prediction, however, depends on the toss. Given the results, the team batting first will have a clear advantage.
Probable XIs
Punjab: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, Jimmy Neesham, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell, M Ashwin/Krishnappa Gautham
Chennai: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), DJ Bravo, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla