Stuttering CSK look to make most of home stretch at fortress Chepauk – T20 IPL 2024

Match details

Chennai Super Kings (P 7 W4 L3; 4th) vs Lucknow Super Giants (P 7 W4 L3; 5th;)
Chennai, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture – CSK vs LSG, round 2

A big reason behind CSK’s stellar record over the years has been their dominance at home. Continuing that trend, they have won their all three home games so far in IPL 2024. However, they have had just one win in four away games, which makes it even more important for them to win at home.

Fortunately, starting Tuesday, they will get three successive games at Chepauk. If they can win all three, they will have one foot in the playoffs.

Their biggest challenge, arguably, will come in the very first of those games, against LSG. Chepauk is known for its slow, spinning surfaces, something LSG have the experience of while playing at their home ground in Lucknow. Moreover, LSG will carry the confidence of beating CSK as recently as Friday, in the previous game for both sides.

It will be interesting to see what type of pitch CSK prepare. Do they play to their strengths, or try to deny LSG what they are used to?

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IPL 2024, a turbo-charged, batter-dominated season like no other

Form guide

Chennai Super Kings LWWLL (last five matches, most recent first) Lucknow Super Giants WLLWW

Previous meeting

Playing in Lucknow, CSK posted 176 for 6, thanks to a half-century from Ravindra Jadeja and yet another cameo from MS Dhoni. In response, KL Rahul scored a superb 82 off 53 to help his side to an eight-wicket win.

Team news and impact player strategy

Chennai Super Kings

Ajinkya Rahane has recovered from the calf niggle and could move down the order after opening the innings in the previous two games. This could also mean that Shivam Dube once again plays as an Impact Player if CSK bowl first. If they bat first, Matheesha Pathirana could perform that role.

Probable XII 1 Rachin Ravindra, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Mustafizur Rahman, 12 Matheesha Pathirana

Lucknow Super Giants

Mayank Yadav is still not fully fit but LSG can consider bringing back Devdutt Padikkal. While he was out in the single digits in each of his five innings so far in IPL 2024, he has a good record against most CSK bowlers.

Padikkal and Mohsin Khan can be LSG’s Impact Players, depending on whether they are bowling first or batting.

Probable XII 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Yash Thakur

In the spotlight

In the absence of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra has been opening the innings for CSK. He gave them blazing starts in the first two games, but his form tapered off after that and in the next five innings, he scored only 50 runs at a strike rate of 108.69. CSK generally back their players, and Ravindra is likely to get a few more games, but in a tournament with unprecedented scoring rates, they may not be able to afford slow starts for too long. KL Rahul has gone the other way around. He started slowly but has really picked up the pace in the last few games. In the first four games of the season, he scored at a strike rate of 125.49 in the powerplay. Since then, he has smashed it at 185.11 – something he has always been capable of. It’s a great sign for LSG, not so for the other teams.

Stats that matter

Pitch and conditions

In three games at Chepauk so far, three different types of totals have been posted by teams batting first: 173 for 6 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (lost), 206 for 6 by CSK (won) and 137 for 9 by Kolkata Knight Riders (lost). While a lot depends on how the pitch plays on the given day, both CSK and LSG will aim for a total of around 200.

Quotes

“He [Mustafizur Rahman] has got that wonderful slower ball, which is hard to hit particularly here in Chennai. We will be sad when he goes [back to Bangladesh], but his country is calling. We want to keep him for as long as he can. We’ve been delighted with his output so far.”
CSK batting coach Michael Hussey on Mustafizur Rahman

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo