Upbeat Super Kings will fancy their chances against Royals

CSK will be high on confidence after inflicting a 93-run defeat on Delhi Daredevils while Rajasthan Royals failed to stop Kings XI after tasting success in the first game

April 23, 2014 02:04 am | Updated May 21, 2016 12:54 pm IST - Dubai:

ON A ROLL: Suresh Raina, who struck his 20th IPL fifty on MOnday, will once again be the man to watch.

ON A ROLL: Suresh Raina, who struck his 20th IPL fifty on MOnday, will once again be the man to watch.

Back in familiar territory after recording its biggest-ever win in terms of runs, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will fancy its chances when it locks horns with Rajasthan Royals, a team seeking to get back to winning ways, in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.

Two-time winner CSK will be high on confidence after inflicting a 93-run defeat on Delhi Daredevils on Monday. Super Kings needed a morale-booster like that after starting the campaign with a defeat.

On the other hand, inaugural edition champion Rajasthan Royals tasted success to start with, but failed to stop Kings XI Punjab from chasing down a 190-plus total in its last match.

Both teams have notched up a win each, to go with a defeat each from two outings.

CSK will be banking on its strong batting to give it a flying start. Suresh Raina, who struck his 20th fifty in IPL the other day, will again be the man to watch.

The left-hander has been one of the most prolific batsmen in the IPL.

The experienced Brendon McCullum is always expected to give the team brisk starts and lending him support at the top will be Dwayne Smith, who can play the big shots as well as anchor the innings.

Faf du Plessis is always dangerous and Ravindra Jadeja is a dependable bat as well. And then there is skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni — he will be eager to have a good hit in the middle. The India captain smashed 32 off 15 balls against Daredevils.

As far as bowling is concerned, there has been no individual brilliance but CSK clicked as a combined unit, as was evident from its showing against Daredevils batsmen who were tied down by accurate swing bowling.

The bowlers were also helped by electric catching by Raina and du Plessis.

Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny shone with the bat in Rajasthan’s opening match while captain Shane Watson and Sanju Vishwanadh hit quick half-centuries, though in a losing cause, in the next.

Steven Smith got himself some quick runs against KXIP, but he would be keen to contribute more handsomely, and so would Abhishek Nayar and James Faulkner.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.