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Chennai Super Kings look to return to winning ways vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be desperate to return to their winning ways when they face table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter in Pune on Saturday
Stung by a defeat to Rajasthan Royals, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would aim to make amends when they take on a raging Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL match in Pune on Sunday afternoon.
Coming off a four-wicket loss to the Royals on Friday night, CSK have 14 points from 11 matches and need only one win to make it to the business end of this edition. The contest on Friday night, against an under-pressure Royals’ side, was an opportunity missed as CSK made plenty of errors late in both the innings.
While their batsmen could not garner as many runs as they would have liked towards the end, the bowlers gave away 38 runs in the final 18 balls. MS Dhoni expressed dissatisfaction over the mistakes made by his bowlers. However, one would expect the team to learn quickly.
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On the other hand, having already qualified for the IPL playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad would take this game as an excellent opportunity to prepare for knockout stages. With CSK close to qualifying, a meeting between the two teams for the third time in the tournament in the knockouts is a possibility.
Pressure on CSK bowlers
With three defeats in their last six matches, the pressure is on CSK.
CSK had announced their return to IPL in style with a string of close wins to begin with, but they seem to have lost a bit of steam as the tournament progressed.
While CSK have three of their batsmen — Ambati Rayudu (435 runs), Dhoni (393 runs) and Shane Watson (367 runs) featuring among top 10 run-getters, none of their bowlers are in elite league.
The fact that CSK failed to defend scores in the range of 160-180 thrice in last five matches, puts pressure on bowlers. With nine wickets so far, Shardul Thakur has been the highest wicket-taker for CSK but his economy rate of 9.21 leaves a lot to be desired.
SRH are unstoppable
The Kane Williamson-led side is simply unstoppable. At a time when teams tend to get bogged down by onslaughts from opposition, SRH have shown they have batsmen who can reply in similar way.
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The spectacular century that Rishabh Pant struck for Delhi Daredevils in their previous game would have sucked out life from any team. However, Williamson (83*) and Shikhar Dhawan (92*) kept their calm to rake up an unbeaten 176-run stand and carry Sunrisers to the IPL playoffs.
SRH, who will take field without the injured Wriddhiman Saha again, start favourites on Sunday given their current form. But all eyes will be on CSK who would look to resurrect their inconsistent run at a venue where they have won three out of four games this season.
