Only pride at stake

October 22, 2012
Start time 1130 local (1330 GMT)

With neither of the sides standing to gain qualification, this match is about nothing but pride. Chennai Super Kings will want to save some of their reputation, which has been eroded considerably in the last two Champions' League tournaments, while Yorkshire will want to avoid ignominy of finishing winless at the bottom of group B. With this match offering few other incentives, the players must find motivation from these scraps.

Chennai have some momentum going into this dead rubber at least, with top order having fired against Mumbai Indians at the Wanderers. Faf du Plessis has been effective at opener in the last two matches having replaced Michael Hussey who has left the tournament. MS Dhoni's form, meanwhile, has also picked up steam over the last two innings.

Chennai's major weakness in this tournament appears to be their bowling, which lacks penetration. None of their bowlers have taken more than two wickets in one match, and they've only managed 15 scalps between them in three matches.

Yorkshire will be hoping to exploit that, given their batting has seemed out of its depth so far in the main competition. They were blasted out by the Sydney Sixers pacemen for 96, and were restricted to 131 by the Lions. The ECB have pulled English teams from next year's Champions' League, and it is up to Yorkshire to prove that the tournament will be poorer without them.

Adil Rashid was once England's No.2 spinner in limited-overs cricket, but has since been usurped by the likes of James Tredwell, Michael Yardy and Samit Patel. His Champions' League returns will not convince the England selectors they have erred in putting him aside. He has only four wickets from five matches, and has gone at close to 10 runs an over. Can he find some redemption in his last match of the tournament?

As poor as Rashid's numbers are, Ravichandran Ashwin's figures for the tournament have been even worse. He has taken three wickets at an average of 39.33, with an economy-rate of 10.72, and given he was Man of the Tournament the last time the Champions' League was played in South Africa, he will be bowling for his personal pride as well as the team's against Yorkshire.