Chennai Super Kings one win away from IPL playoffs
Sunrisers Hyderabad will be out of top-four contention if they lose on Thursday
Big picture
In the news
Likely XIs
Strategy punt
- If there is one team against whom Dhoni can finish the way he used to, it is Sunrisers. He is destructive against their death bowlers, taking 81 runs off 46 balls from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and 45 off 25 from Siddharth Kaul. But this plan only works if - and it's a big if - CSK can prevent their thala from facing Rashid Khan because that head-to-head ain't pretty: 23 runs in 32 balls, one dismissal.
- Kane Williamson loves playing against Super Kings. Check out how his stats against all their best bowlers: 50 runs off 29 balls against Dwayne Bravo; once dismissed, 49 off 35 against Jadeja; never dismissed, 57 off 38 against Shardul Thakur; twice dismissed and 58 off 44 against Deepak Chahar; never dismissed. Williamson batting through the innings could once again prove crucial to Sunrisers' chances.
Stats that matter
- Last IPL, over the course of 12 matches, the average first-innings score in Sharjah was 178. But this season, thanks to a relaid pitch that is a lot slower and a lot less conducive for shot-making, the average first-innings score is only 136.
- A measure of how incredible Jadeja has been with the bat in recent seasons. Since IPL 2020, he is one of only three players to score at least 400 runs and average over 50. The others are KL Rahul and Williamson.
- Rashid finds life a bit tougher than usual playing against the Super Kings. He averages 27.6 - his worst out of all teams - and gives up a boundary almost every over (33 in 36) - again his worst out of all teams.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo