Battle of the last year finalists happens at the spin heaven of the country and it would be a battle of the spinners from both the sides and who would come out successfully. The high end drama of the last year would be expected to happen at this venue and both the teams would be fresh from the wins in their first match of IPL 2024 and would be upbeat to go up the ladder.
While Chennai Super Kings, under the captaincy of new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad did not sweat much to win their first match, it was pretty much the opposite for the other new captain, Shubman Gill who had to believe on his bowler to deliver the goods and pull off a thriller.
Probable XI:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Rachin Ravindra*, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryll Mitchell*, Sameer Rizvi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (WK), Mustafizur Rahman*, Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana*
Impact Subs: Shivam Dube / Mukesh Choudhary
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (C), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Sai Sudarshan, Azmatullah Omarzai*, David Miller*, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan*, Spencer Johnson*, Umesh Yadav
Impact Subs: Mohit Sharma / Noor Ahmed
Chennai Super Kings started on a positive note when they faced Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their den at the Chepauk Stadium. Mustafizur Rahman was the standout bowler with 4/29 and rocked the top order of the RCB setup. CSK also made it a thing to have small and proper partnerships stitched to perfection so that they can reach the target without any hurry.
On the other hand, RCB had a tough time once Faf du Plessis departed as his start was the positive until Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik stood and ensured that the target was above par the average score. While their batting was able to be held tight, their bowling made it a point to take away the stitches very easily. It was a bad record for them against CSK as they lost to them for the 13th time in the IPL history.
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Gujarat, on the other hand, faced Mumbai Indians and had a good start with the bat with Sai Sudarshan playing the usual anchor role and Tewatia coming down the order and blowing away the bowling lineup of the Mumbai Indians. They held on to their nerves when Dewald Brevis, Tim David and Hardik Pandya were about to take away the game before Umesh Yadav applied the brakes on the pedals of the Mumbai batters. Mohit Sharma came out a fresh leaf in this match post the final drubbing last year and ensured that his bowling was an asset to the team and he made it a point to stand up to the expectation of his captain.
Cometh the day, cometh the hour, the spin wizards of both the teams would have their acid test in ensuring who would be the winner at the end of the 40th over.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Chennai has normally been a win the toss and bowl first and it will not surprise anyone if the captain who calls right opts to do the same. During the opening game of the IPL 2024 season, the pitch was its best behaviour as CSK chased down 175 with ease. Expect the spinners to come in a lot more as the season progresses. The batters will love batting during the early part of the power-play overs when the ball is new and coming onto the bat.
Stats Corner:
- Chennai and Gujarat have faced each other in 5 matches in IPL. Out of these 5 games, Chennai have won 2 whereas Gujarat have come out victorious on 3 occasions.
- Most Runs for CSK vs GT: Ruturaj Gaikwad (304 runs at a SR of 146.85) and Most Wickets for CSK vs GT: Mohit Sharma (7 wickets at an economy of 9.40)
- Rashid Khan needs 53 runs to reach 500 runs in IPL in batting and 11 wickets to 150 wickets in bowling.
- Umesh Yadav needs 12 wickets to reach 150 wickets in IPL.
- Ajinkya Rahane needs 2 sixes to reach 100 sixes in IPL.
(Source: Cricktracker, Sportstar, Cricbuzz)
Match Details:
Date: 26th March, 2024
Time: 7: 30 PM IST
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Live broadcast: Star Sports Network
Live streaming: JioCinema app
Predicted Dream XI:
