Party spoilers Super Kings in the way of Kings XI's playoff hunt

The Chennai Super Kings have already hurt the playoff chances of two teams in a row - the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore - and in their path next are the Kings XI Punjab, who need to win to stay alive. With the burden of qualifying lifted off their shoulders, the Super Kings have nothing to lose in their last game and a win may even give them a chance of not finishing bottom of the table.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad's win has pushed the Kings XI Punjab down to fifth place now but Kings XI's net run rate is better than both the Royal Challengers Bangalore's and the Delhi Capitals'. To qualify, the Kings now need to beat the Super Kings to finish on 14 points which will take them higher than the loser of the Capitals-Royal Challengers clash on Monday.

At the same time, the Kings XI will also hope the winner of the Rajasthan Royals-Kolkata Knight Riders game on Sunday doesn't go above them on net run-rate, in case the Sunrisers win their last league game. If the Sunrisers lose, Kings XI will be through by winning on Sunday.

Sunday's game may not be the toughest among Kings XI's recent challenges though. A lot of the Super Kings players aren't firing which means the Kings XI can mainly focus on their recent match-winners: Ruturaj Gaikwad, one of Super Kings' future prospects, Ravindra Jadeja, for his finishing skills and economical bowling, and Sam Curran's wicket-taking abilities.

This being a day game on Sunday, the Kings XI don't need to worry about the dew, which, KL Rahul said, hurt them in their last game while bowling second. Chris Gayle's recent six-hitting ability bodes well for them but they also need to prepare for the possibility of their middle order doing the hard work if they lose both Rahul and Gayle early, especially if they are without Mayank Agarwal and/or Mandeep Singh.

Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis tore into the Kings XI bowlers while chasing 179 in Dubai almost four weeks ago and handed them a 10-wicket drubbing. A lot has changed since then, though, for both teams.

There's a possibility, no matter how small, that the Kings XI will be without both Agarwal and Mandeep. Agarwal hurt his leg during the game against the Delhi Capitals more than 10 days ago and was expected to be fit for Friday's game but didn't feature in the XI. Mandeep, meanwhile, got hit on his glove by a nasty short delivery from Jofra Archer during his one-ball stay on Friday, and his fitness update is awaited. In case both are unavailable, Kings XI can open with Rahul and Gayle, and bring in Sarfaraz Khan for Mandeep in the XI.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Shane Watson/Faf du Plessis, 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 N Jagadeesan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Karn Sharma, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Mayank Agarwal/Mandeep Singh, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Chris Jordan, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Arshdeep Singh