Having sealed their playoff berths, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals will battle it out at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday for a place in the top two.
The two teams have been the standout performers in the league with 18 points each from 12 games. Finishing in the top two affords a team a second chance in the playoffs.
CSK ahead on NRR
While CSK is ahead on the table on better Net Run Rate, Capitals walk into the match as favourites. Capitals have won their last three encounters and boast a potent pace line-up that can trouble the Super Kings’ batters.
Capitals, who finished runner’s-up last year, will look to maintain that advantage considering these teams could end up occupying the top two positions in the table and meet in the first Qualifier.
So a win here could give a psychological edge going into the next stage of the tournament.
While Capitals come into the match on the back of a win against defending champion Mumbai Indians, Super Kings were outplayed by Rajasthan Royals on Saturday.
The Chennai side rested Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo in the previous match and dearly missed their services.
It will be interesting to see if the CSK management continues to manage the workload of key players or decides to field a full-strength side to get back to winning ways.