Toss Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy stadium. Both sides were missing some of their talismanic stars in their last matches, but MS Dhoni recovered well enough from his back spasms to return to the captaincy with Super Kings and AB de Villiers was also back, having missed Royal Challengers’ last match after being struck on the head by a bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah.
In his 150th IPL match, de Villiers will have an important role to play as Royal Challengers hunt for their first win over Super Kings since 2014, while Dhoni will shore up a lower-middle order at a ground where he averages 75.8 in IPL matches.
Super Kings also welcomed Dwayne Bravo back into their playing XI, the allrounder having spent a spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring niggle. His return means Sam Billings and Karn Sharma will sit this one out for Super Kings. Royal Challengers also brought in Umesh Yadav for Mohammad Siraj as they look to claw their way off the bottom of the points table against a team who sit at the very top.
Dew may well play a role in the outcome of this game, and there was already a sheen on the outfield during the toss. Any moisture will make Royal Challengers’ task of defending a total even harder this evening.
Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Pawan Negi, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
Source: ESPN Crickinfo