Chennai Super Kings will draw inspiration from its crammed trophy cabinet as it takes on a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore seeking its maiden title when the two sides square off in the second Qualifier of IPL-8 at the JSCA Stadium here on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will aim to secure the two-time IPL champion a slot in the final for the sixth time. Record does not favour RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who will be eager to end three seasons of his side’s underperformance and secure passage into the title round for the third time. Its last appearance there was in 2011 when the side lost to CSK.
Going by what has unfolded in the league stages of the current edition of the tournament, the Super Kings enjoy the advantage, having convincingly won at home and away against Royal Challengers.
Moreover, Dhoni will also enjoy the crowd support in his hometown.
While the assortment of circumstantial and statistical factors remain loaded against his side, Kohli will gain confidence from the turnaround his side has managed in the later stages of the league phase.
Since the departure of Brendon McCullum, who is away leading New Zealand in the Test series in England, CSK’s batting has not quite been the same. The explosive Kiwi, CSK’s highest aggregator of runs this season, had been providing the initial acceleration with Dwayne Smith, leaving the consolidation job to Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina and Dhoni.
The loss to Mumbai Indians in the first Qualifier will have shaken CSK. The former champion’s batting came under fire as it sputtered and faltered before folding up 25 runs short of MI’s 187.
With Michael Hussey not quite replicating McCullum’s success in his two appearances, the furrows on coach Stephen Fleming’s brow seem to be getting deeper. “Our top-order has not been able to deliver to its potential. Brendon (McCullum) did very well scoring the bulk of the runs. We hope that the team’s top three or four batsmen are able perform decently in tomorrow’s match,” he said.
In A.B. de Villiers (512 runs), Kohli (493) and Chris Gayle (450), RCB has one of the most formidable batting line-ups.
In the bowling section, both teams boast equally capable attacks, with CSK’s Dwayne Bravo on top of the heap with 23 wickets. Ashish Nehra too has done well with the new ball claiming 19 scalps.
For RCB, Mitchell Stark has starred in the pace department accounting for 19 wickets despite joining the side late. Yuzvendra Chahal has been the pick of the spinners claiming 21 wickets so far.
