It will be a thrilling clash between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and the high-flying Rajasthan Royals at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The latter are on the verge of making it to the playoffs after notching up 16 points with three matches remaining. On the other hand, CSK should safely make it through if they manage to win against RR and against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their last match. But if they lose even one, things may become tricky for the five-time champions.
The Royals succumbed to a defeat against the Delhi Capitals in their last encounter after failing to chase 222 runs set by the hosts at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Skipper Sanju Samson played a formidable inning of 86 runs off just 46 balls but lacked support from the batting order as he will be looking to replicate his stint against the five-time former champions.
CSK likely XI (if batting first)
Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (wk), Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Simarjeet Singh, Richard Gleeson
CSK likely XI (if bowling first)
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (wk), Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Simarjeet Singh, Richard Gleeson, Tushar Deshpande
Impact Players: Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary
RR likely XI (if batting first)
{{/usCountry}}Impact Players: Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary
RR likely XI (if batting first)
{{/usCountry}}Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(c/wk), Riyan Parag, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powel, Donovan Ferreira, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma
RR likely XI (if bowling first)
Yashaswi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c/wk), Riyan Parag, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powel, Donovan Ferreira, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Players: Jos Buttler, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tanush Kotiyan, Kuldeep Sen
Head-to-head
Both teams have played each other on 28 occasions where CSK have led the head-to-head with 15 wins. However, it is the Royals who have won the last four matches against CSK over the seasons.
Pitch Report
The MA Chidambaram Stadium showcases itself as a tricky turning track making it hard to play for the batsmen. Out of the 82 games played at this venue, the teams batting first have won 48 games while the teams batting second have won 34 matches.
Fantasy team
Yashaswi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (c/wk), Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Richard Gleeson, Yuzvendra Chahal.