IPL 2019: Match 12, CSK vs RR, Preview: Jittery Royals up against Chennai spin challenge

The Royals won their last match at the Chepauk back in 2008.

Published - 30 Mar 2019, 18:59 IST | Updated - 30 Mar 2019, 18:59 IST

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The defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their first two matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) and are in the second position of the points table in this edition’s Indian Premier League (IPL). And in both instances, the bowlers set it up for them. Even as RCB were blown away for 70, the Capitals couldn’t quite demystify them, especially the spinners.

The CSK spinners, especially the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, and Harbhajan Singh have been hard to get away with two of them- Tahir and Jadeja- having superlative economy rates of under five. They are next scheduled to play the Ajinkya Rahane-captained Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai where the pitch is expected to assist the spinners once again.

The Royals, on the contrary, lost their opening matches and would be desperate to open their account in the IPL. In both their games against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), they were in the driver’s seat, but couldn’t be consistent enough to win. To add to their agony, their record at the Chepauk isn’t something great and they would need to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win the match.

Team Combination

Chennai Super Kings

The Super Kings again played with three overseas players and for the next match, the hosts may bring in Mitchell Santner in place of Shardul Thakur. Watson and Rayudu are the opening batsman with Suresh Raina at number three. The middle order hasn’t had much to do and they may need to step up if CSK lose early wickets. The onus will again be on the spinners to choke the batsmen in the middle overs.

Probable XI

Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir

Rajasthan Royals

The Royals may give leg-break bowler Sudhesan Midhun a chance in place of fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni. Midhun will partner Shreyas Gopal in the spin-bowling department. Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler are the openers with last match’s centurion Sanju Samson at three. Steve Smith and Ben Stokes are crucial elements of the team as well. Unadkat and Archer are the genuine fast bowlers in the lineup.

Probable XI

Ajinkya Rahane (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Sudhesan Midhun

Rajasthan Royals won the toss, opt to field

IPL-2019-PLAYING-XI-CSKvRR

Focus will be on

Ambati Rayudu- Chennai Super Kings

Rayudu had a stupendous outing in last edition’s IPL, but the start for him this season hasn’t quite been an auspicious one. In the first game, the Guntur-born batter couldn’t quite get going, though he scored 28 runs. In the second encounter, the 33-year-old was castled by Ishant Sharma when he was on five. The right-hander would be hoping to make amends and get a good score under his belt.

Jos Buttler- Rajasthan Royals

Ever since Buttler started to open the batting for the Royals, he has been scoring runs with sheer authority. He scored quite a few fifties last season and the Englishman also started this season with a half-century against Punjab. Nevertheless, the wicketkeeper-batsman couldn’t quite deliver in the last match after being dismissed by Rashid Khan. CSK can’t afford to undermine him by any means.