IPL 2021: Match 38, CSK vs KKR Preview, Playing XI, Live Streaming Details & Updates

Here are two teams in sweltering hot form, and the heat would be no less when they meet under the Abu Dhabi afternoon sky in what’s their first afternoon encounter in the resumed IPL edition. Both Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders enter the contest on the back of two consecutive victories, so – to state the obvious – at least this would change: one of the winning runs is going to come to a halt.

CSK seem to have cracked the code of acing things in the UAE, a venue that halted their proud playoff qualification streak. But the demons of their seventh-spot finish from 2020 seem long-buried, not least because unlike that edition, when the men in yellow dealt with a Covid-19 setback and spent time quarantining instead of training/acclimatizing themselves with the UAE conditions, they touched down in the venue a month beforehand this year.

If anything, the Daddy’s Army has only solidified their already-solid position further, having handed comprehensive defeats to Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Best for them – only two games in this leg, they have already defended (against MI) and chased (against RCB) once successfully. Bowlers have got them wickets at the right moments, batters have kept the scoring at T20 standards in all phases without fail. With such form and five more games to come, securing a top-two spot seems a foregone conclusion, let alone a Playoff qualification.

CSK resumed their 2021 campaign as the second-placed team. That was, however, starkly different from how their immediate rivals started – at sixth with two wins, five losses. But after a forgettable Indian leg, KKR have mended their ways as quickly. And quick has been their rise on the points tally, where they jumped from sixth to fourth after securing a spectacular victory against their bogey team, Mumbai Indians.

There is nothing that the KKR can take for granted, although, thanks to all the margin they have squandered in India during April-May. But heartening it would be for their coach Brendon McCullum to see that his boys have indeed realized the “need to hit the ground running”, as he urged them to do ahead of the second leg.

Their recent recruit Venkatesh Iyer has shown a McCullum-esque belligerence at the top of the order twice in two games hitherto, while his partner Shubman Gill, who was guilty of slow-scoring at the top of the order in the first leg, shed caution against Mumbai to score a decent 48 in a fashion his team would have wanted.

Having cantered home to victories in merely 10 overs against RCB before in 15.1 overs against MI has also given KKR’s net run rate the exact boost that a team struggling to cope after ruthless defeats needs.

After a promising restart to their campaign, KKR would believe they are better equipped to conjure a performance better than the one they managed against CSK earlier this year when they were resuscitated from 5/31 in a 221-chase by Andre Russell’s 22-ball 54 and Pat Cummins’ 34-ball 66. However, even efforts as exceptional as those were not enough to avoid an 18-run defeat.

Either way, this one should be quite a game.

Pitch and conditions

With this being a day encounter, expect plenty of heat and a challenging outing for all the players with the mercury touching higher 30s. In the three fixtures so far in Abu Dhabi, KKR bowled out RCB for 92 and restricted MI to 155 before chasing both the totals down. In the most recent encounter between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, the former won by 33 while defending 155. Taking these into account, a high-scoring encounter is not likely.

Playing combination for CSK vs KKR

Chennai Super Kings

CSK are known to stick with the same combinations even in adverse situations. After two wins on the bounce, only a last moment niggle should be a reason for them to change.

Predicted XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

Kolkata Knight Riders

Unlikely to tinker with the winning combination.

Predicted XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

CSK vs KKR Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 26 | Chennai Super Kings – 16 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 9 |N/R – 0

In the UAE

Played – 2 | Chennai Super Kings – 1 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 1 | N/R – 0

CSK vs KKR Broadcast Details

Match Timings – 3:30 PM IST

TV – Star Sports Network

Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar